Effect of Water Activity and Packaging Material on the Quality of Dehydrated Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott) Slices during Accelerated Storage

PubMed Central

Jefferies, L. K.

2016-01-01

The quality of dehydrated taro slices in accelerated storage (45°C and 75% RH) was determined as a function of initial water activity (a w) and package type. Color, rehydration capacity, thiamin content, and α-tocopherol content were monitored during 34 weeks of storage in polyethylene and foil laminate packaging at initial storage a w of 0.35 to 0.71. Initial a w at or below 0.54 resulted in less browning and higher rehydration capacity, but not in significantly higher α-tocopherol retention. Foil laminate pouches resulted in a higher rehydration capacity and increased thiamin retention compared to polyethylene bags. Type of packaging had no effect on the color of the samples. Product stability was highest when stored in foil laminate pouches at 0.4a w. Sensory panels were held to determine the acceptability of rehydrated taro slices using samples representative of the taro used in the analytical tests. A hedonic test on rehydrated taro's acceptability was conducted in Fiji, with panelists rating the product an average of 7.2 ± 1.5 on a discrete 9-point scale. Using a modified Weibull analysis (with 50% probability of product failure), it was determined that the shelf life of dehydrated taro stored at 45°C was 38.3 weeks. PMID:27891508

Chemical and sensory characteristics of frozen wheygurt with the addition of taro and lesser yam flours as thickening agent

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurhartadi, E.; Utami, R.; Widowati, E.; Karunawati, B. M.

2018-01-01

Cheese whey is a waste product from cheese processing. It has low solid contents thus required the addition of a thickening agent. Lactic acid bacteria could utilize it in the fermented drink. This research aims to study the effect of taro and lesser yam flour addition as a thickening agent on chemical and sensory characteristics of frozen wheygurt. This research used Complete Randomized Design (CRD) with one factor that is variation ratio of taro and lesser yam flour F1 (4: 0), F2 (3: 1), F3 (2: 2), F4 (1: 3), F5 (0: 4). The number of lactic acid bacteria cell determined by using hemocytometer. The lactic acid content determined by the titrimetric method by using 0.1 N NaOH and phenolphthalein as indicator. pH value measured with pH meter. Sensory characteristics evaluated using hedonic test. The result showed that the addition of taro and lesser yam flour have a significant effect on the number of lactic acid bacteria in frozen wheygurt. The higher lesser yam flour addition, the higher lactic acid bacteria count on frozen wheygurt, due to lesser yam higher glucose and fructo-oligosaccharide content than taro. The higher lesser yam addition, the higher the lactic acid produced. The higher the total bacteria and higher levels of lactic acid, the lower the pH obtained. The conclusion of this study is addition ratio of taro and lesser yam flour effect on the chemical characteristics of frozen wheygurt. There is no difference in the level of acceptance of the panelists in sensory evaluation.

Chemical characteristic and functional properties of arenga starch-taro (Colocasia esculanta L.) flour noodle with turmeric extracts addition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ervika Rahayu N., H.; Ariani, Dini; Miftakhussolikhah, E., Maharani P.; Yudi, P.

2017-01-01

Arenga starch-taro (Colocasia esculanta L.) flour noodle is an alternative carbohydrate source made from 75% arenga starch and 25% taro flour, but it has a different color with commercial noodle product. The addition of natural color from turmeric may change the consumer preference and affect chemical characteristic and functional properties of noodle. This research aims to identify chemical characteristic and functional properties of arenga starch-taro flour noodle with turmeric extract addition. Extraction was performed using 5 variances of turmeric rhizome (0.06; 0.12; 0.18; 0.24; and 0.30 g (fresh weight/ml water). Then, noodle was made and chemical characteristic (proximate analysis) as well as functional properties (amylose, resistant starch, dietary fiber, antioxidant activity) were then evaluated. The result showed that addition of turmeric extract did not change protein, fat, carbohydrate, amylose, and resistant starch content significantly, while antioxidant activity was increased (23,41%) with addition of turmeric extract.

Magma intrusion near Volcan Tancítaro: Evidence from seismic analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinzón, Juan I.; Núñez-Cornú, Francisco J.; Rowe, Charlotte A.

2017-01-01

Between May and June 2006, an earthquake swarm occurred near Volcan Tancítaro in Mexico, which was recorded by a temporary seismic deployment known as the MARS network. We located ∼1000 events from this seismic swarm. Previous earthquake swarms in the area were reported in the years 1997, 1999 and 2000. We relocate and analyze the evolution and properties of the 2006 earthquake swarm, employing a waveform cross-correlation-based phase repicking technique. Hypocenters from 911 events were located and divided into eighteen families having a correlation coefficient at or above 0.75. 90% of the earthquakes provide at least sixteen phase picks. We used the single-event location code Hypo71 and the P-wave velocity model used by the Jalisco Seismic and Accelerometer Network to improve hypocenters based on the correlation-adjusted phase arrival times. We relocated 121 earthquakes, which show clearly two clusters, between 9-10 km and 3-4 km depth respectively. The average location error estimates are <1 km epicentrally, and <2 km in depth, for the largest event in each cluster. Depths of seismicity migrate upward from 16 to 3.5 km and exhibit a NE-SW trend. The swarm first migrated toward Paricutin Volcano but by mid-June began propagating back toward Volcán Tancítaro. In addition to its persistence, noteworthy aspects of this swarm include a quasi-exponential increase in the rate of activity within the first 15 days; a b-value of 1.47; a jug-shaped hypocenter distribution; a shoaling rate of ∼5 km/month within the deeper cluster, and a composite focal mechanism solution indicating largely reverse faulting. These features of the swarm suggest a magmatic source elevating the crustal strain beneath Volcan Tancítaro.

Health care response to the tsunami in Taro District, Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Problem In the Taro District (population: 4434), the great tsunami of 11 March 2011 destroyed the central region including the clinic, the sole medical facility (one physician, 13 nurses and other staff) in the district, and many citizens were forced to live in evacuation centres. Context The Taro District experienced massive damage during the tsunamis of 1896 and 1933. Since then countermeasures to tsunamis have been implemented. The great tsunami on 11 March 2011 caused catastrophic damage to the low-lying areas where approximately 2500 people lived; 1609 buildings were completely destroyed, and approximately 200 people died or were missing across the district. Action The Taro National Health Insurance Clinic, the sole medical facility in the Taro District, was required to play a central role in a variety of activities to care for residents in severely affected areas. First of all, evacuees needed to move to neighbouring hospitals or safer evacuation centres because lifeline services were cut off to the first evacuation centre. Then, the clinic staff worked in a temporary clinic; they visited the evacuation centres to assess the public health and medical situation, cared for wounded residents, managed infection control and encouraged a normal lifestyle where possible. Additional medical, pharmaceutical and logistical support was received from outside the district. Outcome There was no noticeably severe damage to health, although there was manifestation of and deterioration in lifestyle-related diseases (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, obesity). Health care activities gradually returned to their pre-disaster levels. At the end of July 2011, the evacuation centres closed, and all evacuees moved to temporary accommodations. Discussion Isolated rural health practitioners were required to be involved in a wide variety of activities related to the disaster in addition to their routine work: e.g. preventive health (public health and safety activities), routine medical care

Health care response to the tsunami in Taro District, Miyako City, Iwate Prefecture.

PubMed

Kuroda, Hitoshi

2011-10-01

IN THE TARO DISTRICT (POPULATION: 4434), the great tsunami of 11 March 2011 destroyed the central region including the clinic, the sole medical facility (one physician, 13 nurses and other staff) in the district, and many citizens were forced to live in evacuation centres. The Taro District experienced massive damage during the tsunamis of 1896 and 1933. Since then countermeasures to tsunamis have been implemented. The great tsunami on 11 March 2011 caused catastrophic damage to the low-lying areas where approximately 2500 people lived; 1609 buildings were completely destroyed, and approximately 200 people died or were missing across the district. The Taro National Health Insurance Clinic, the sole medical facility in the Taro District, was required to play a central role in a variety of activities to care for residents in severely affected areas. First of all, evacuees needed to move to neighbouring hospitals or safer evacuation centres because lifeline services were cut off to the first evacuation centre. Then, the clinic staff worked in a temporary clinic; they visited the evacuation centres to assess the public health and medical situation, cared for wounded residents, managed infection control and encouraged a normal lifestyle where possible. Additional medical, pharmaceutical and logistical support was received from outside the district. There was no noticeably severe damage to health, although there was manifestation of and deterioration in lifestyle-related diseases (e.g. diabetes, hypertension, obesity). Health care activities gradually returned to their pre-disaster levels. At the end of July 2011, the evacuation centres closed, and all evacuees moved to temporary accommodations. ISOLATED RURAL HEALTH PRACTITIONERS WERE REQUIRED TO BE INVOLVED IN A WIDE VARIETY OF ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE DISASTER IN ADDITION TO THEIR ROUTINE WORK: e.g. preventive health (public health and safety activities), routine medical care, acute medical care, psychological care

The Rice Tungro Bacilliform Virus Gene II Product Interacts with the Coat Protein Domain of the Viral Gene III Polyprotein

PubMed Central

Herzog, Etienne; Guerra-Peraza, Orlene; Hohn, Thomas

2000-01-01

Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) is a plant pararetrovirus whose DNA genome contains four genes encoding three proteins and a large polyprotein. The function of most of the viral proteins is still unknown. To investigate the role of the gene II product (P2), we searched for interactions between this protein and other RTBV proteins. P2 was shown to interact with the coat protein (CP) domain of the viral gene III polyprotein (P3) both in the yeast two-hybrid system and in vitro. Domains involved in the P2-CP association have been identified and mapped on both proteins. To determine the importance of this interaction for viral multiplication, the infectivity of RTBV gene II mutants was investigated by agroinoculation of rice plants. The results showed that virus viability correlates with the ability of P2 to interact with the CP domain of P3. This study suggests that P2 could participate in RTBV capsid assembly. PMID:10666237

Analysis of full-length sequences of two Citrus yellow mosaic badnavirus isolates infecting Citrus jambhiri (Rough Lemon) and Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck (Sweet Orange) from a nursery in India.

PubMed

Anthony Johnson, A M; Borah, B K; Sai Gopal, D V R; Dasgupta, I

2012-12-01

Citrus yellow mosaic badna virus (CMBV), a member of the Family Caulimoviridae, Genus Badnavirus is the causative agent of mosaic disease among Citrus species in southern India. Despite its reported prevalence in several citrus species, complete information on clear functional genomics or functional information of full-length genomes from all the CMBV isolates infecting citrus species are not available in publicly accessible databases. CMBV isolates from Rough Lemon and Sweet Orange collected from a nursery were cloned and sequenced. The analysis revealed high sequence homology of the two CMBV isolates with previously reported CMBV sequences implying that they represent new variants. Based on computational analysis of the predicted secondary structures, the possible functions of some CMBV proteins have been analyzed.

Development of loop-mediated isothermal amplification and SYBR green real-time PCR methods for the detection of Citrus yellow mosaic badnavirus in citrus species.

PubMed

Anthony Johnson, A M; Dasgupta, I; Sai Gopal, D V R

2014-07-01

Citrus yellow mosaic badnavirus (CMBV) is an important pathogen in southern India spread by infected citrus propagules. One of the measures to arrest the spread of CMBV is to develop methods to screen and certify citrus propagules as CMBV-free. The methods loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and SYBR green real-time PCR (SGRTPCR) have been developed for the efficient detection of CMBV in citrus propagules. This paper compares the sensitivities of LAMP and SGRTPCR with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection of CMBV. Whereas PCR and LAMP were able to detect CMBV from a minimum of 10 ng of total DNA of infected leaf samples, SGRTPCR could detect the same from 1 ng of total DNA. Using SGRTPCR, the viral titres were estimated to be the highest in rough lemon and lowest in Nagpur Mandarin of the five naturally infected citrus species tested. The results will help in designing suitable strategies for the sensitive detection of CMBV from citrus propagules. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ecological niche modeling for a cultivated plant species: a case study on taro (Colocasia esculenta) in Hawaii.

PubMed

Kodis, Mali'o; Galante, Peter; Sterling, Eleanor J; Blair, Mary E

2018-04-26

Under the threat of ongoing and projected climate change, communities in the Pacific Islands face challenges of adapting culture and lifestyle to accommodate a changing landscape. Few models can effectively predict how biocultural livelihoods might be impacted. Here, we examine how environmental and anthropogenic factors influence an ecological niche model (ENM) for the realized niche of cultivated taro (Colocasia esculenta) in Hawaii. We created and tuned two sets of ENMs: one using only environmental variables, and one using both environmental and cultural characteristics of Hawaii. These models were projected under two different Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) for 2070. Models were selected and evaluated using average omission rate and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). We compared optimal model predictions by comparing the percentage of taro plots predicted present and measured ENM overlap using Schoener's D statistic. The model including only environmental variables consisted of 19 Worldclim bioclimatic variables, in addition to slope, altitude, distance to perennial streams, soil evaporation, and soil moisture. The optimal model with environmental variables plus anthropogenic features also included a road density variable (which we assumed as a proxy for urbanization) and a variable indicating agricultural lands of importance to the state of Hawaii. The model including anthropogenic features performed better than the environment-only model based on omission rate, AUC, and review of spatial projections. The two models also differed in spatial projections for taro under anticipated future climate change. Our results demonstrate how ENMs including anthropogenic features can predict which areas might be best suited to plant cultivated species in the future, and how these areas could change under various climate projections. These predictions might inform biocultural

Characterisation of corn starch-based films reinforced with taro starch nanoparticles.

PubMed

Dai, Lei; Qiu, Chao; Xiong, Liu; Sun, Qingjie

2015-05-01

Taro starch nanoparticles (TSNPs) obtained by hydrolysis with pullulanase and the recrystallisation of gelatinised starch were used as reinforcing agents in corn starch films. The influence of TSNPs contents (0.5-15%) on the physical, mechanical, thermal, and structural properties of starch films was investigated. An increase in the concentration of TSNPs led to a significant decrease in the water vapour permeability (WVP) of films. The addition of TSNPs increased the tensile strength (TS) of films from 1.11 MPa to 2.87 MPa. Compared with pure starch films, the surfaces of nanocomposite films became uneven. The onset temperature (To) and melting temperature (Tm) of films containing TSNPs were higher than those of pure starch films. The addition of TSNPs improved the thermal stability of starch films. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Citrus aurantifolia essential oil for the potential biocontrol of Colocasia esculenta (taro) leaf blight caused by Phytophthora colocasiae.

PubMed

Tchameni, Séverin Nguemezi; Mbiakeu, Staelle Njamou; Sameza, Modeste Lambert; Jazet, Pierre Michel Dongmo; Tchoumbougnang, François

2017-11-17

The aim of this work was to evaluate the antimicrobial activities of leaves and epicarp of Citrus aurantifolia essential oil against Phytophthora colocasiae, the causative agent of taro leaf blight. Oils were extracted by hydrodistillation, and their chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Antimicrobial activities of oils were tested in vitro against mycelium growth and sporangium production. In situ tests were done on healthy taro leaves, and the necrosis symptoms were evaluated. Results showed that the essential oil extraction yields from leaves and epicarp were 0.61 and 0.36%, respectively. Limonene (48.96%), bornyl acetate (14.18%), geraniol (10.53%), geranial (3.93%), and myrcene (3.14%) were the main components in leaf oil, while limonene (59.09%), cis-hydrate sabinene (7.53%), geranial (5.61%), myrtenol (5.02%), and terpinen-4-ol (3.48%) were the main components in epicarp oil. Both oils exhibited antimicrobial activities with total inhibition of the mycelium growth at 500 and 900 ppm for leaf and epicarp, respectively. The highest inhibitory concentration of sporangium production was 400 (72.84%) and 800 ppm (80.65%) for leaf and epicarp oil, respectively. For the standard fungicide (metalaxyl), the total inhibition value of mycelial growth and sporangium production was 750 ppm. In situ tests showed that, at 5000 ppm, total inhibition (100%) was obtained for a preventive test, while 50% of the inhibition was observed for a curative test when leaf oil was applied. When epicarp essential oil was applied at 5000 ppm, 47.5 and 16.66% of the reduction of leaf necrosis were observed for the preventive and curative test, respectively. There were positive correlations between both the oil concentration and the reduction of necrosis caused by P. colocasiae. These findings suggest that the C. aurantifolia essential oil could serve as an eco-friendly biocontrol for the management of taro

A 27 ka paleoenvironmental lake sediment record from Taro Co, central Tibetan Plateau: implications for the interplay between monsoon and the Westerlies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, J.; Ma, Q.; Huang, L.; Ju, J.; Guo, Y.; Lin, X.; Li, Y.; Zhu, L.

2017-12-01

The climate of Tibetan Plateau (TP) is mainly influenced by the Indian Ocean Summer Monsoon (IOSM) and the Westerlies. The interaction of these two air masses is therefore a crucial scientific issue to understand how they impact the climate in this area, especially in the geological times. However, constrained by the available archives, researches on this topic are still very few in the hinterland of the TP, especially covering the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) period. Here we present a new lake sediment record retrieved from Taro Co covering the last 27 ka to elucidate how the IOSM and the Westerlies interact and the possible mechanisms. Taro Co (486 km2, Dmax: 132m, 4565 m a.s.l., currently closed), located on the central TP, is a fresh lake with the major supply from glaciers. Two parallel piston cores as well as several gravity cores were retrieved from the deepest parts. These cores were correlated based on high resolution XRF scanning and a continuous 1069 cm-long core was finally integrated. Chronology was determined by 210Pb, 137Cs and AMS 14C measurements. Multidiscipline analyses including grain size, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen, diatom, ostracod, pollen and n-alkanes were accomplished to reconstruct paleoenvironmental changes. The lake level of Taro Co was low since 27 cal ka BP indicated by very coarse materials and diatom assemblages with gradually increased temperature and salinity (TOC and carbonate getting higher). The terrestrial water input decreased continuously reflected by such elements as Si, Ti, Fe, K. It is likely that there was a sedimentation gap between 961-954cm, corresponding to 23.4 to 18.6 cal ka BP probably demonstrated Taro Co was very shallow at that period. The first prominent abrupt change of most proxies was observed at 14.7 cal ka BP showing a great lake deepening which likely indicated an enhancement of IOSM. There were several spells with abrupt changes of cold/warm stages before the Holocene and the Younger Dryas

Evaluation of virus resistance and agronomic performance of rice cultivar ASD 16 after transfer of transgene against Rice tungro bacilliform virus by backcross breeding.

PubMed

Valarmathi, P; Kumar, G; Robin, S; Manonmani, S; Dasgupta, I; Rabindran, R

2016-08-01

Severe losses of rice yield in south and southeast Asia are caused by Rice tungro disease (RTD) induced by mixed infection of Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) and Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV). In order to develop transgene-based resistance against RTBV, one of its genes, ORF IV, was used to generate transgenic resistance based on RNA-interference in the easily transformed rice variety Pusa Basmati-1, and the transgene was subsequently introgressed to rice variety ASD 16, a variety popular in southern India, using transgene marker-assisted selection. Here, we report the evaluation of BC3F4 and BC3F5 generation rice plants for resistance to RTBV as well as for agronomic traits under glasshouse conditions. The BC3F4 and BC3F5 generation rice plants tested showed variable levels of resistance, which was manifested by an average of twofold amelioration in height reduction, 1.5-fold decrease in the reduction in chlorophyll content, and 100- to 10,000-fold reduction in the titers of RTBV, but no reduction of RTSV titers, in three backcrossed lines when compared with the ASD 16 parent. Agronomic traits of some of the backcrossed lines recorded substantial improvements when compared with the ASD 16 parental line after inoculation by RTBV and RTSV. This work represents an important step in transferring RTD resistance to a susceptible popular rice variety, hence enhancing its yield in areas threatened by the disease.

[Opportunity cost for men who visit family medicine units in the city of Querétaro, Mexico].

PubMed

Martínez Carranza, Edith Olimpia; Villarreal Ríos, Enrique; Vargas Daza, Emma Rosa; Galicia Rodríguez, Liliana; Martínez González, Lidia

2010-12-01

To determine the opportunity cost for men who seek care in the family medicine units (FMU) of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social) in the city of Querétaro. A sample was selected of 807 men, ages 20 to 59 years, who sought care through the family medicine, laboratory, and pharmacy services provided by the FMU at the IMSS in Querétaro. Patients referred for emergency services and those who left the facilities without receiving care were excluded. The sample (n = 807) was calculated using the averages for an infinite population formula, with a confidence interval of 95% (CI95%) and an average opportunity cost of US$5.5 for family medicine, US$3.1 for laboratory services, and US$2.3 for pharmacy services. Estimates included the amount of time spent on travel, waiting, and receiving care; the number of people accompanying the patient, and the cost per minute of paid and unpaid job activities. The opportunity cost was calculated using the estimated cost per minute for travel, waiting, and receiving care for patients and their companions. The opportunity cost for the patient travel was estimated at US$0.97 (CI95%: 0.81-1.15), while wait time was US$5.03 (CI95%: 4.08-6.09) for family medicine, US$0.06 (CI95%: 0.05-0.08) for pharmacy services, and US$1.89 (CI95%: 1.56-2.25) for laboratory services. The average opportunity cost for an unaccompanied patient visit varied between US$1.10 for pharmacy services alone and US$8.64 for family medicine, pharmacy, and laboratory services. The weighted opportunity cost for family medicine was US$6.24. Given that the opportunity cost for men who seek services in FMU corresponds to more than half of a minimum salary, it should be examined from an institutional perspective whether this is the best alternative for care.

Taro corms mucilage/HPMC based transdermal patch: an efficient device for delivery of diltiazem hydrochloride.

PubMed

Sarkar, Gunjan; Saha, Nayan Ranjan; Roy, Indranil; Bhattacharyya, Amartya; Bose, Madhura; Mishra, Roshnara; Rana, Dipak; Bhattacharjee, Debashis; Chattopadhyay, Dipankar

2014-05-01

The aim of this work is to examine the effectiveness of mucilage/hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) based transdermal patch (matrix type) as a drug delivery device. We have successfully extracted mucilage from Colocasia esculenta (Taro) corms and prepared diltiazem hydrochloride incorporated mucilage/HPMC based transdermal patches using various wt% of mucilage by the solvent evaporation technique. Characterization of both mucilage and transdermal patches has been done by several techniques such as Molisch's test, organoleptic evaluation of mucilage, mechanical, morphological and thermal analysis of transdermal patches. Skin irritation test is studied on hairless Albino rat skin showing that transdermal patches are apparently free of potentially hazardous skin irritation. Fourier transform infrared analysis shows that there is no interaction between drug, mucilage and HPMC while scanning electron microscopy shows the surface morphology of transdermal patches. In vitro drug release time of mucilage-HPMC based transdermal patches is prolonged with increasing mucilage concentration in the formulation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A geostatistical methodology for the optimal design of space-time hydraulic head monitoring networks and its application to the Valle de Querétaro aquifer.

PubMed

Júnez-Ferreira, H E; Herrera, G S

2013-04-01

This paper presents a new methodology for the optimal design of space-time hydraulic head monitoring networks and its application to the Valle de Querétaro aquifer in Mexico. The selection of the space-time monitoring points is done using a static Kalman filter combined with a sequential optimization method. The Kalman filter requires as input a space-time covariance matrix, which is derived from a geostatistical analysis. A sequential optimization method that selects the space-time point that minimizes a function of the variance, in each step, is used. We demonstrate the methodology applying it to the redesign of the hydraulic head monitoring network of the Valle de Querétaro aquifer with the objective of selecting from a set of monitoring positions and times, those that minimize the spatiotemporal redundancy. The database for the geostatistical space-time analysis corresponds to information of 273 wells located within the aquifer for the period 1970-2007. A total of 1,435 hydraulic head data were used to construct the experimental space-time variogram. The results show that from the existing monitoring program that consists of 418 space-time monitoring points, only 178 are not redundant. The implied reduction of monitoring costs was possible because the proposed method is successful in propagating information in space and time.

[Unit cost variation in a social security company in Querétaro, México].

PubMed

Villarreal-Ríos, Enrique; Campos-Esparza, Maribel; Garza-Elizondo, María E; Martínez-González, Lidia; Núñez-Rocha, Georgina M; Romero-Islas, Nestor R

2006-01-01

Comparing unit cost variation between departments and reasons for consultation in outpatient health services provided by a social security company from Querétaro, Mexico. A study of costs (in US dollars) was carried out in outpatient health service units during 2004. Fixed unit costs were estimated per department and adjusted for one year's productivity. Material, physical and consumer resources were included. Weighting was assigned to resources invested in each department. Unit cost was estimated by using the micro cost technique; medicaments, materials used during treatment and reagents were considered to be consumer items. Unit cost resulted from adding fixed unit cost to the variable unit cost corresponding to the reason for consulting. Units costs were then compared between the medical units. Unit cost per month for diabetic treatment varied from 34.8 US dollars, 32,2 US dollars to US 34 US dollars, pap smear screening test costs were 7,2 US dollars, 8,7 US dollars and 7,3 US dollars and dental treatment 27 US dollars, 33 US dollars, 6 and 28,7 US dollars. Unit cost variation was more important in the emergency room and the dental service.

Digestibility of starches isolated from stem and root tubers of arracacha, cassava, cush-cush yam, potato and taro.

PubMed

Lovera, Mighay; Pérez, Elevina; Laurentin, Alexander

2017-11-15

Digestibility of arracacha, cassava, cush-cush yam, potato and taro starches was evaluated. In vitro (potentially-available starch and total resistant starch) and in vivo digestibility in the rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae) bioassay (survival, weight variation, α-amylase like activity [ALA], and uric acid excretion [UAE] as biomarkers) were estimated. In in vitro assays, all starches presented high resistant starch content (14-56%, dry basis), except for cassava starch. In in vivo assays, cush-cush yam and potato starches promoted higher ALA (>3 times) and UAE (>4 times) compare to a reference diet (cornstarch), in agreement to their low digestibility. These two biomarkers were related with resistant starch (r>0.81) and could be used to predict the starch bioavailability. This study demonstrates that the use of both in vitro and in vivo assays allows a better evaluation of starch digestibility, and may help to elucidate the final metabolic fate of starch digestion products. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Optimization of Steamed Meals Based on Composite Flour (Taro, Banana, Green Bean) and Its Predicted Shelf Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sunarmani; Setyadjit; Ermi, S.

2018-05-01

Ongol-ongol is for food diversification by mixing composite flour of taro, banana and mung bean, then was steamed by hot air. The purpose of this study was to find out the optimum way to produce ‘ongol-ongol’ from composite flour and to know the storage life by prediction method. The research consisted of two stages, namely the determination of the optimum formula of ‘ongol-ongol’ with Design Expert DX 8.1.6 software and the estimation of product shelf life of the optimum formula by ASLT (Accelerated Shelf Life Test) method. The optimum formula of the steamed meal was produced from composite flour and arenga flour with ratio of 50: 50 and flour to water ratio of 1: 1. The proximate content of steamed meal of optimum formula is 36.53% moisture content, ash content of 1,36%, fat content of 14.48%, protein level of 28.5%, and carbohydrate of 44.77% (w/w). Energy Value obtained from 100 g of ‘ongol-ongol’ was 320.8 Kcal. Recommended for steamed meal storage life is 12.54 days at ambient temperature.

Optimization of Lactobacillus acidophilus cultivation using taro waste and evaluation of its biological activity.

PubMed

Hsieh, Shu-Chen; Liu, Jui-Ming; Pua, Xiao-Hui; Ting, Yuwen; Hsu, Ren-Jun; Cheng, Kuan-Chen

2016-03-01

In this study, taro waste (TW) was utilized for Lactobacillus acidophilus BCRC 14079 cultivation and the anti-tumor and immune-modulatory properties of heat-killed cells (HKCs), cytoplasmic fraction (CF), and exopolysaccharide (EPS) were evaluated. The optimum liquefaction enzyme dosage, temperature, and time determined by Box-Behnken design response surface methodology (BBD-RSM) were 9 mL/L of α-amylase, 79.2 °C, and 5 h of reaction, respectively. The optimum temperature and reaction time for saccharification were determined as 60 °C and 3 h. The optimum medium, CGMY1 medium, constitutes of TW hydrolysate containing 37 g/L of glucose, 25 g/L of corn gluten meal (CGM), and 1 g/L of yeast extract (YE). Results of MTT assay showed that HKCs and EPS from CGM medium exhibited the highest anti-proliferative in HT-29 (IC50 of HKCs, 467.25 μg/mL; EPS, 716.10 μg/mL) and in Caco-2 cells (IC50 of EPS, 741.60 μg/mL). Luciferase-based NF-ΚB and COX-2 systems indicated HKCs from CGM medium stimulated the highest expression of luciferin in both systems. The luciferase activities by using 100 and 500 μg/mL of HKCs from CGM were 24.30- and 45.83-fold in NF-ΚB system and 11.54- and 4.93-fold in COX-2 system higher than the control. In conclusion, this study demonstrated the potential of TW medium for L. acidophilus cultivation and the production of non-viable probiotics with enhanced biological activities.

Heterologous expression of taro cystatin protects transgenic tomato against Meloidogyne incognita infection by means of interfering sex determination and suppressing gall formation.

PubMed

Chan, Yuan-Li; Yang, Ai-Hwa; Chen, Jen-Tzu; Yeh, Kai-Wun; Chan, Ming-Tsair

2010-03-01

Plant-parasitic nematodes are a major pest of many plant species and cause global economic loss. A phytocystatin gene, Colocasia esculenta cysteine proteinase inhibitor (CeCPI), isolated from a local taro Kaosiang No. 1, and driven by a CaMV35S promoter was delivered into CLN2468D, a heat-tolerant cultivar of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). When infected with Meloidogyne incognita, one of root-knot nematode (RKN) species, transgenic T1 lines overexpressing CeCPI suppressed gall formation as evidenced by a pronounced reduction in gall numbers. In comparison with wild-type plants, a much lower proportion of female nematodes without growth retardation was observed in transgenic plants. A decrease of RKN egg mass in transgenic plants indicated seriously impaired fecundity. Overexpression of CeCPI in transgenic tomato has inhibitory functions not only in the early RKN infection stage but also in the production of offspring, which may result from intervention in sex determination.

Unexpected Genome Variability at Multiple Loci Suggests Cacao Swollen Shoot Virus Comprises Multiple, Divergent Molecular Variants.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV) [Badnavirus, Caulimoviridae] causes swollen shoot disease of Theobroma cacao L. in West Africa. Since ~2000, various diagnostic tests have failed to detect CSSV in ~50-70% of symptomatic cacao plants, suggesting the possible emergence of new, previously uncharacteriz...

Characterization of Canna yellow mottle virus in a New Host, Alpinia purpurata, in Hawaii.

PubMed

Zhang, Jingxin; Dey, Kishore K; Lin, Birun; Borth, Wayne B; Melzer, Michael J; Sether, Diane; Wang, Yanan; Wang, I-Chin; Shen, Huifang; Pu, Xiaoming; Sun, Dayuan; Hu, John S

2017-06-01

Canna yellow mottle virus (CaYMV) is an important badnavirus infecting Canna spp. worldwide. This is the first report of CaYMV in flowering ginger (Alpinia purpurata) in Hawaii, where it is associated with yellow mottling and necrosis of leaves, vein streaking, and stunted plants. We have sequenced CaYMV in A. purpurata (CaYMV-Ap) using a combination of next-generation sequencing and traditional Sanger sequencing techniques. The complete genome of CaYMV-Ap was 7,120 bp with an organization typical of other Badnavirus species. Our results indicated that CaYMV-Ap was present in the episomal form in infected flowering ginger. We determined that this virus disease is prevalent in Hawaii and could potentially have significant economic impact on the marketing of A. purpurata as cut flowers. There is a potential concern that the host range of CaYMV-Ap may expand to include other important tropical plants.

Molecular characterization of Banana streak virus isolate from Musa Acuminata in China.

PubMed

Zhuang, Jun; Wang, Jian-Hua; Zhang, Xin; Liu, Zhi-Xin

2011-12-01

Banana streak virus (BSV), a member of genus Badnavirus, is a causal agent of banana streak disease throughout the world. The genetic diversity of BSVs from different regions of banana plantations has previously been investigated, but there are relatively few reports of the genetic characteristic of episomal (non-integrated) BSV genomes isolated from China. Here, the complete genome, a total of 7722bp (GenBank accession number DQ092436), of an isolate of Banana streak virus (BSV) on cultivar Cavendish (BSAcYNV) in Yunnan, China was determined. The genome organises in the typical manner of badnaviruses. The intergenic region of genomic DNA contains a large stem-loop, which may contribute to the ribosome shift into the following open reading frames (ORFs). The coding region of BSAcYNV consists of three overlapping ORFs, ORF1 with a non-AUG start codon and ORF2 encoding two small proteins are individually involved in viral movement and ORF3 encodes a polyprotein. Besides the complete genome, a defective genome lacking the whole RNA leader region and a majority of ORF1 and which encompasses 6525bp was also isolated and sequenced from this BSV DNA reservoir in infected banana plants. Sequence analyses showed that BSAcYNV has closest similarity in terms of genome organization and the coding assignments with an BSV isolate from Vietnam (BSAcVNV). The corresponding coding regions shared identities of 88% and -95% at nucleotide and amino acid levels, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis also indicated BSAcYNV shared the closest geographical evolutionary relationship to BSAcVNV among sequenced banana streak badnaviruses.

2000 years of sustainable use of watersheds and coral reefs in Pacific Islands: A review for Palau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koshiba, Shirley; Besebes, Meked; Soaladaob, Kiblas; Ngiraingas, Madelsar; Isechal, Adelle Lukes; Victor, Steven; Golbuu, Yimnang

2014-05-01

In Palau and everywhere in the world, coastal coral reefs are threatened by sedimentation resulting from land clearing in the watersheds. Palau's largest island of Babeldaob is particularly susceptible to significant erosion due to its steep topography, high rainfall, and highly erodible volcanic soil. Previous studies have shown the damaging impacts of sedimentation on coral reefs around Babeldaob Island. Related studies conducted in Micronesia have also documented that mangroves can trap about 30% of the fine eroded sediment from land. This paper examines the sediment trapping capability of cultivated wetlands, in particular taro (Colocasia esculenta) fields, which are natural wetlands used to grow taro, a main staple crop for the population. A 7-months long field study was undertaken to quantify the sediment accumulation rate for taro fields and to determine their sediment trapping efficiency. The results showed that the taro fields were able to trap on average 90% of sediment, therefore sheltering coastal coral reefs and their fisheries from the negative impacts of terrestrial runoff. Based on the results of this study, we suggest that the combined sediment trapping capacity of taro fields and mangroves helped reduce sedimentation on coral reefs around Babeldaob Island. This enabled human settlement for over 2000 years on a small Pacific Island with the main staple food being taro for starch and reef fish for protein. Even with a population of 30,000 people over Babeldaob Island, the living was sustainable for at least 1000 years, implying that the population was able to survive and prosper with its main food being the starch from taro fields and protein from reef fish. While there was intensive cultivation on land the sustainability of reef fisheries must have required that the reef be sheltered from excessive soil erosion.The structure of the taro field (mesei) initialized by the Palauan ancestors, has been maintained to this day. Their

The effect of the addition of sorbitol and glycerol towards the edible film characteristics of the belitung taro starch and the lime leaves as antimicrobial

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asria, Merry; Elizarni, Samah, dan Selfa Dewati

2015-12-01

Plastics have been generally used for food packaging, but plastics using causing environmental problem for as non biodegradable. Resolving the problem need another alternative packaging that environmental friendly such as the edible film as biodegradable packing material. This research intend to determination the effects of sorbitol and glycerol (concentration of 1%, 2%, 3%, and 4%) as addition to the edible film characteristics from the belitung taro starch (Xanthosoma sagitifolium). Lime leaves (Citrus aurantifolia) extract used as an antimicrobial film (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, and 10% respectively). From the research obtained that using sorbitol has given more rigid and hard film texture, while glycerol provides more elastic and flexible texture. Sorbitol give best performance at 2% where thickness 0.17 mm; tensile strength 41.60 MPa; yield strength 34.28 MPa; modulus of elasticity 7983.71 MPa; and maximum strain 29,8%. While, glycerol (2%) provides thickness 0.18 mm; tensile strength 35.72 MPa; yield strength 30.78 MPa; modulus of elasticity 9065.90 MPa; and maximum strain 14.4% for best performance. SEM and FTIR analysis applied to determine film surface morphology's characterization and determine the functional groups of the film materials. The addition of lime leaves extract as antimicrobial gives the growth inhibition activity against the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria.

Diversity, local knowledge and use of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) in the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacan, Mexico

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Stingless bees were significant resources managed by Mesoamerican peoples during pre-Columbian times and remain important in particular areas. Our study aimed at inventorying stingless bees’ species, traditional knowledge and forms of use and management of them at the municipality of Nocupetaro, Michoacán, Mexico, a region of the Balsas River Basin. Methods We inventoried the stingless bees of the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacán, México, through extensive collecting of bee specimens in different vegetation types. We then conducted semi-structured interviews to local experts in order to document their knowledge and management techniques of stingless bees’ species. Results We identified a total of eight stingless bees’ species in the study area as well as three additional unidentified taxa recognized by people through the local names. Our inventory included one new record of species for the region (Lestrimelitta chamelensis Ayala, 1999). The taxa identified are all used by local people. Scaptotrigona hellwegeri Friese, 1900; Melipona fasciata Latreille, 1811; Frieseomelitta nigra Cresson, 1878 and Geotrigona acapulconis Strand, 1919 are particularly valued as food (honey), medicinal (honey and pollen), and material for handcrafts (wax). All species recorded are wild and their products are obtained through gathering. On average, local experts were able to collect 4 nests of stingless bees per year obtaining on average 6 L of honey and 4 Kg of wax but some came to collect up 10–12 hives per year (18 L of honey and 24 Kg of wax). Conclusions Local knowledge about use, management and ecological issues on stingless bees is persistent and deep in the study area. Information about this group of bees is progressively scarcer in Mexico and significant effort should be done from ethnobiological and ecological perspectives in order to complement the national inventory of bee resources and traditional knowledge and management of them. PMID:24903644

Diversity, local knowledge and use of stingless bees (Apidae: Meliponini) in the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacan, Mexico.

PubMed

Reyes-González, Alejandro; Camou-Guerrero, Andrés; Reyes-Salas, Octavio; Argueta, Arturo; Casas, Alejandro

2014-06-05

Stingless bees were significant resources managed by Mesoamerican peoples during pre-Columbian times and remain important in particular areas. Our study aimed at inventorying stingless bees' species, traditional knowledge and forms of use and management of them at the municipality of Nocupetaro, Michoacán, Mexico, a region of the Balsas River Basin. We inventoried the stingless bees of the municipality of Nocupétaro, Michoacán, México, through extensive collecting of bee specimens in different vegetation types. We then conducted semi-structured interviews to local experts in order to document their knowledge and management techniques of stingless bees' species. We identified a total of eight stingless bees' species in the study area as well as three additional unidentified taxa recognized by people through the local names. Our inventory included one new record of species for the region (Lestrimelitta chamelensis Ayala, 1999). The taxa identified are all used by local people. Scaptotrigona hellwegeri Friese, 1900; Melipona fasciata Latreille, 1811; Frieseomelitta nigra Cresson, 1878 and Geotrigona acapulconis Strand, 1919 are particularly valued as food (honey), medicinal (honey and pollen), and material for handcrafts (wax). All species recorded are wild and their products are obtained through gathering. On average, local experts were able to collect 4 nests of stingless bees per year obtaining on average 6 L of honey and 4 Kg of wax but some came to collect up 10-12 hives per year (18 L of honey and 24 Kg of wax). Local knowledge about use, management and ecological issues on stingless bees is persistent and deep in the study area. Information about this group of bees is progressively scarcer in Mexico and significant effort should be done from ethnobiological and ecological perspectives in order to complement the national inventory of bee resources and traditional knowledge and management of them.

Rf2a and rf2b transcription factors

DOEpatents

Beachy, Roger N.; Petruccelli, Silvana; Dai, Shunhong

2007-10-02

A method of activating the rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) promoter in vivo is disclosed. The RTBV promoter is activated by exposure to at least one protein selected from the group consisting of Rf2a and Rf2b.

Genetic analysis of a novel nidovirus from fathead minnows

USGS Publications Warehouse

Batts, William N.; Goodwin, Andrew E.; Winton, James R.

2012-01-01

A bacilliform virus was isolated from diseased fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas). Analysis of the complete genome coding for the polyprotein (pp1ab), spike (S), membrane (M) and nucleocapsid (N) proteins revealed that the virus was most like white bream virus (WBV), another bacilliform virus isolated from white bream (Blicca bjoerkna L.) and the type species of the genus Bafinivirus within the order Nidovirales. In addition to similar gene order and size, alignment of deduced amino acid sequences of the pp1ab, M, N and S proteins of the fathead minnow nidovirus (FHMNV) with those of WBV showed 46, 44, 39 and 15 % identities, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis using the conserved helicase domain of the replicase showed FHMNV was distinct from WBV, yet the closest relative identified to date. Thus, FHMNV appears to represent a second species in the genus Bafinivirus. A PCR assay was developed for the identification of future FHMNV-like isolates.

[Modification of fasting blood glucose in adults with diabetes mellitus type 2 after regular soda and diet soda intake in the State of Querétaro, Mexico].

PubMed

Olalde-Mendoza, Liliana; Moreno-González, Yazmín Esmeralda

2013-06-01

The objective of the study was to compare the modification of fasting blood glucose in adults with diabetes mellitus type 2 after intake of regular soda and diet soda. We conducted a randomized clinical trial in clinics of Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social in Querétaro, México. We included 80 patients with diabetes (mean weight 74.2 +/- 13.66, BMI 30.5 +/- 4.305, waist 98.2 +/- 12.9 and time evolution of diabetes 3.8 +/- 3.009) who were asked to come with fasting for 8 hours and without taking any medicine before testing. They were divided into two groups of 40 subjects, to whom was measured fasting blood glucose after the ingestion of 200 ml of diet soda (with aspartame and acesulfame potassium) or regular soda (without sweetener) we measure glucose at 10, 15 and 30 minutes. For statistical analysis performed we used Student's t-test for dependent and independent samples, and paired t-test, and chi square test (chi2). Capillary glucose levels at 10 minutes were -34.52 and -25.41%, at 15 minutes -48.8 and -36.2% and at 30 minutes 57.75 and 43.6% of absolute and relative differences, with p = 0.000. In conclusion, according to the observations, diet soda doesn't increased blood glucose levels, with a significant difference in fasting decreased at 30 minutes.

Phylogeny of Banana Streak Virus reveals recent and repetitive endogenization in the genome of its banana host (Musa sp.).

PubMed

Gayral, Philippe; Iskra-Caruana, Marie-Line

2009-07-01

Banana streak virus (BSV) is a plant dsDNA pararetrovirus (family Caulimoviridae, genus badnavirus). Although integration is not an essential step in the BSV replication cycle, the nuclear genome of banana (Musa sp.) contains BSV endogenous pararetrovirus sequences (BSV EPRVs). Some BSV EPRVs are infectious by reconstituting a functional viral genome. Recent studies revealed a large molecular diversity of episomal BSV viruses (i.e., nonintegrated) while others focused on BSV EPRV sequences only. In this study, the evolutionary history of badnavirus integration in banana was inferred from phylogenetic relationships between BSV and BSV EPRVs. The relative evolution rates and selective pressures (d(N)/d(S) ratio) were also compared between endogenous and episomal viral sequences. At least 27 recent independent integration events occurred after the divergence of three banana species, indicating that viral integration is a recent and frequent phenomenon. Relaxation of selective pressure on badnaviral sequences that experienced neutral evolution after integration in the plant genome was recorded. Additionally, a significant decrease (35%) in the EPRV evolution rate was observed compared to BSV, reflecting the difference in the evolution rate between episomal dsDNA viruses and plant genome. The comparison of our results with the evolution rate of the Musa genome and other reverse-transcribing viruses suggests that EPRVs play an active role in episomal BSV diversity and evolution.

An isothermal based recombinase polymerase amplification assay for rapid, sensitive and robust indexing of citrus yellow mosaic virus.

PubMed

Kumar, P V; Sharma, S K; Rishi, N; Ghosh, D K; Baranwal, V K

Management of viral diseases relies on definite and sensitive detection methods. Citrus yellow mosaic virus (CYMV), a double stranded DNA virus of the genus Badnavirus, causes yellow mosaic disease in citrus plants. CYMV is transmitted through budwood and requires a robust and simplified indexing protocol for budwood certification programme. The present study reports development and standardization of an isothermal based recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay for a sensitive, rapid, easy, and cost-effective method for detection and diagnosis of CYMV. Two different oligonucleotide primer sets were designed from ORF III (coding for polyprotein) and ORF II (coding for virion associated protein) regions of CYMV to perform amplification assays. Comparative evaluation of RPA, PCR and immuno-capture recombinase polymerase amplification (IC-RPA) based assays were done using purified DNA and plant crude sap. CYMV infection was efficiently detected from the crude sap in RPA and IC-RPA assays. The primer set used in RPA was specific and did not show any cross-amplification with banana streak MY virus (BSMYV), another Badnavirus species. The results from the present study indicated that RPA assay can be used easily in routine indexing of citrus planting material. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on development of a rapid and simplified isothermal detection assay for CYMV and can be utilized as an effective technique in quarantine and budwood certification process.

Groundwater-soil-crop relationship with respect to arsenic contamination in farming villages of Bangladesh--a preliminary study.

PubMed

Kurosawa, Kiyoshi; Egashira, Kazuhiko; Tani, Masakazu; Jahiruddin, M; Moslehuddin, Abu Zofar Md; Rahman, Zulfikar Md

2008-11-01

To clarify the groundwater-soil-crop relationship with respect to arsenic (As) contamination, As concentration was measured in tubewell (TW) water, surface soil from farmyards and paddy fields, and fresh taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaves from farmyards in the farming villages of Bangladesh. The As concentration in TW water from farmyards was at least four times higher than the Bangladesh drinking water standard, and the concentration in fresh taro leaves was equal to or higher than those reported previously for leafy vegetables in Bangladesh. As concentration of surface soils in both farmyards and paddy fields was positively correlated with that of the TW water. Further, the concentration in surface soil was positively correlated with levels in fresh taro leaves in the farmyard. This study, therefore, clarified the groundwater-soil-crop relationship in farmyards and the relationship between groundwater-soil in paddy fields to assess the extent of As contamination in Bangladeshi villages.

Responses of tropical root crops to climate change: implications for Pacific food security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gleadow, R.; Webber, B.; Macness, N.; Lisson, S.; Nauluvula, P.; Hargraves, J.; Crimp, S. J.

2013-12-01

Cassava and taro are an important source of calories in many parts of the developing world and hold much promise for meeting the need for food security in equatorial regions. Communities in the Pacific Island countries reliant on agriculture-based livelihood systems have been identified as particularly at risk from climate change, due to likely increases in crop failure, new patterns of pests and diseases, lack of appropriate seed and plant material, loss of livestock and potential loss of arable land. Recent shortfalls in agricultural production resulting from changing export markets, commodity prices, climatic variation, and population growth and urbanisation, have contributed further to regional food insecurity concerns. Cassava and taro contain herbivore defense chemicals that are detrimental to human health (cyanogenic glucosides and calcium oxalate). Unprocessed cassava can cause acute cyanide intoxication, paralysis and even death, especially during droughts. A number of activities are already underway in the Pacific region to identify ways to ameliorate existing climate risk and enhance current agricultural production. Whilst these activities are important to ensure long-term agricultural sustainability, there remains a significant degree of uncertainty as to how effective these strategies may be in the face of a changing and increasingly variable future climate. We present our current understanding of the impact of climate change on key Pacific production systems - specifically those based on the staple root crops, taro and cassava. This includes (1) Our understanding of the responses of cassava and taro crops to existing environmental drivers (climate, soil and nutrient interactions); (2) The responses of cassava and taro crops to enhanced CO2 conditions; and (3) Efforts to model productivity responses (within the APSIM framework) and results for locations in the Pacific.

[Changes of lastids in virus-infected cells of the attraction-zone from Sarracenia purpurea L].

PubMed

Barckhaus, R H; Weinert, H

1975-01-01

Viruslike particles 300-350 nm long and 70 nm in diameter were found in ultrathin sections of attraction-zone from Sarracenia purpurea. Epidermal- and mesophyll cells contained the bacilliform particles. The membrane-bound particles-most virions occured within ER-like membranes-consisted of an outer coat 70-90 A thick, an inner membrane and an axial core. The plastids of infected cells in which virus particles were localized show morphologicals changes of the organells.

Genesis of the City Flood Queretaro

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sosa, E. G.; Salinas, N. R.

2013-12-01

In 1446 the emperor Moctezuma Ihuicamina talked about of the Queretaro region, which was northern border of their empire (From Torquemeda, 1975). Septien (1999, page 17, Volume 1). "The news that came the Otomi region, spoken the good soil fertility of the Querétaro valley, being an attractive to this place". The aims research is show how the from foundation of the prehispanic period the city of Santiago Queretaro was marked by the development and growth, and as fascinating Mexico historical events recorded their urban-hydraulic direction shows a clear symbiosis between the model prehispanic and colonial urban was conceived it as a compact core, it is currently set to modern urbanization, fragmenting the natural system of the hydrologic surface runoff , adapting and adopting solutions that break the natural equilibrium of the valley Queretaro. In the period 1970-2003 in Mexico 1744 floods was reported but in Queretaro occurred only 10 floods because in 22nd place ranking by frequency of floods, Matias Ramirez et al (2006). Since the foundation of Santiago de Querétaro (1455) the changes of uses soils and the construction of channels had caused the strangulation of city, without regarding the natural of the ways of water of the river Querétaro, so occupied by collectors or drains that also constriction the system of urban water of city of Queretaro that breakdowns with the architecture and natural ways of water. Similarly, historical tracking flooding is not only an exploration of public actions on the implementation of protection works, but also updates the concept of cultural heritage, as fixed and cultivates social memory of the preservation of knowledge the territory. Every time a flood comes increasing concern of whether it corresponds to situations already lived. The flood occurred last February 2010 that affected five delegations besides Querétaro Historic Center (Alameda), the Arquitos, Quintas del Marques, among other colonies, is testimony to the

Effect of Crop Rotation on Meloidogyne spp. and Pratylenchus spp. Populations in Strawberry Fields in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Chen, P.; Tsay, T.T.

2006-01-01

Changes in population levels of Meloidogyne hapla, M. incognita, Pratylenchus coffeae, and P. penetrans were studied in 12 strawberry fields in the Dahu region of Taiwan. Ten potential rotation crops and two cultural practices were evaluated for their effect on nematode populations and influence on strawberry yield. Rotation with rice or taro and the cultural practice of flooding and bare fallowing for four months were found to reduce nematode soil populations to two or fewer nematodes per 100 ml soil. Average strawberry yields increased between 2.4% to 6.3% following taro compared to the bare fallow treatment. Corn suppressed M. incognita and M. hapla populations and resulted in an increased in strawberry yield compared to bare fallow. Other phytopathogens also present in these fields limited taro as the rotation choice for nematode management. Results of this research and economic analysis of the input requirements for various rotation crops, corn and bare fallow were recommended as the most appropriate rotation strategies for nematode management in strawberry in this region. PMID:19259538

Biogas energy production from tropical biomass wastes by anaerobic digestion.

PubMed

Ge, Xumeng; Matsumoto, Tracie; Keith, Lisa; Li, Yebo

2014-10-01

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is an attractive technology in tropical regions for converting locally abundant biomass wastes into biogas which can be used to produce heat, electricity, and transportation fuels. However, investigations on AD of tropical forestry wastes, such as albizia biomass and food wastes, such as taro, papaya, and sweet potato, are limited. In this study, these tropical biomass wastes were evaluated for biogas production by liquid AD (L-AD) and/or solid-state AD (SS-AD), depending on feedstock characteristics. When albizia leaves and chips were used as feedstocks, L-AD had greater methane yields (161 and 113 L kg(-1)VS, respectively) than SS-AD (156.8 and 59.6 L kg(-1)VS, respectively), while SS-AD achieved 5-fold higher volumetric methane productivity than L-AD. Mono-digestion and co-digestion of taro skin, taro flesh, papaya, and sweet potato achieved methane yields from 345 to 411 L kg(-1)VS, indicating the robustness of AD technology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular Characterization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in an Agroforestry System Reveals the Predominance of Funneliformis spp. Associated with Colocasia esculenta and Pterocarpus officinalis Adult Trees and Seedlings.

PubMed

Geoffroy, Alexandre; Sanguin, Hervé; Galiana, Antoine; Bâ, Amadou

2017-01-01

Pterocarpus officinalis (Jacq.) is a leguminous forestry tree species endemic to Caribbean swamp forests. In Guadeloupe, smallholder farmers traditionally cultivate flooded taro ( Colocasia esculenta ) cultures under the canopy of P. officinalis stands. The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in the sustainability of this traditional agroforestry system has been suggested but the composition and distribution of AM fungi colonizing the leguminous tree and/or taro are poorly characterized. An in-depth characterization of root-associated AM fungal communities from P. officinalis adult trees and seedlings and taro cultures, sampled in two localities of Guadeloupe, was performed by pyrosequencing (GS FLX+) of partial 18S rRNA gene. The AM fungal community was composed of 215 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), belonging to eight fungal families dominated by Glomeraceae, Acaulosporaceae, and Gigasporaceae. Results revealed a low AM fungal community membership between P. officinalis and C. esculenta . However, certain AM fungal community taxa (10% of total community) overlapped between P. officinalis and C. esculenta , notably predominant Funneliformis OTUs. These findings provide new perspectives in deciphering the significance of Funneliformis in nutrient exchange between P. officinalis and C. esculenta by forming a potential mycorrhizal network.

Molecular Characterization of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in an Agroforestry System Reveals the Predominance of Funneliformis spp. Associated with Colocasia esculenta and Pterocarpus officinalis Adult Trees and Seedlings

PubMed Central

Geoffroy, Alexandre; Sanguin, Hervé; Galiana, Antoine; Bâ, Amadou

2017-01-01

Pterocarpus officinalis (Jacq.) is a leguminous forestry tree species endemic to Caribbean swamp forests. In Guadeloupe, smallholder farmers traditionally cultivate flooded taro (Colocasia esculenta) cultures under the canopy of P. officinalis stands. The role of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in the sustainability of this traditional agroforestry system has been suggested but the composition and distribution of AM fungi colonizing the leguminous tree and/or taro are poorly characterized. An in-depth characterization of root-associated AM fungal communities from P. officinalis adult trees and seedlings and taro cultures, sampled in two localities of Guadeloupe, was performed by pyrosequencing (GS FLX+) of partial 18S rRNA gene. The AM fungal community was composed of 215 operational taxonomic units (OTUs), belonging to eight fungal families dominated by Glomeraceae, Acaulosporaceae, and Gigasporaceae. Results revealed a low AM fungal community membership between P. officinalis and C. esculenta. However, certain AM fungal community taxa (10% of total community) overlapped between P. officinalis and C. esculenta, notably predominant Funneliformis OTUs. These findings provide new perspectives in deciphering the significance of Funneliformis in nutrient exchange between P. officinalis and C. esculenta by forming a potential mycorrhizal network. PMID:28804479

OGRO: The Overview of functionally characterized Genes in Rice online database.

PubMed

Yamamoto, Eiji; Yonemaru, Jun-Ichi; Yamamoto, Toshio; Yano, Masahiro

2012-12-01

The high-quality sequence information and rich bioinformatics tools available for rice have contributed to remarkable advances in functional genomics. To facilitate the application of gene function information to the study of natural variation in rice, we comprehensively searched for articles related to rice functional genomics and extracted information on functionally characterized genes. As of 31 March 2012, 702 functionally characterized genes were annotated. This number represents about 1.6% of the predicted loci in the Rice Annotation Project Database. The compiled gene information is organized to facilitate direct comparisons with quantitative trait locus (QTL) information in the Q-TARO database. Comparison of genomic locations between functionally characterized genes and the QTLs revealed that QTL clusters were often co-localized with high-density gene regions, and that the genes associated with the QTLs in these clusters were different genes, suggesting that these QTL clusters are likely to be explained by tightly linked but distinct genes. Information on the functionally characterized genes compiled during this study is now available in the O verview of Functionally Characterized G enes in R ice O nline database (OGRO) on the Q-TARO website ( http://qtaro.abr.affrc.go.jp/ogro ). The database has two interfaces: a table containing gene information, and a genome viewer that allows users to compare the locations of QTLs and functionally characterized genes. OGRO on Q-TARO will facilitate a candidate-gene approach to identifying the genes responsible for QTLs. Because the QTL descriptions in Q-TARO contain information on agronomic traits, such comparisons will also facilitate the annotation of functionally characterized genes in terms of their effects on traits important for rice breeding. The increasing amount of information on rice gene function being generated from mutant panels and other types of studies will make the OGRO database even more valuable in

9 CFR 205.206 - Farm products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... specify by name) Dry beans, dry peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, other vegetables (system must specify by name) Artichokes, asparagus, beans lima, beans snap, beets, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage...

9 CFR 205.206 - Farm products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... specify by name) Dry beans, dry peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, other vegetables (system must specify by name) Artichokes, asparagus, beans lima, beans snap, beets, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage...

9 CFR 205.206 - Farm products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... specify by name) Dry beans, dry peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, other vegetables (system must specify by name) Artichokes, asparagus, beans lima, beans snap, beets, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage...

9 CFR 205.206 - Farm products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... specify by name) Dry beans, dry peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, other vegetables (system must specify by name) Artichokes, asparagus, beans lima, beans snap, beets, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage...

Diabetes type 2 - meal planning

MedlinePlus

... your goal range. These include foods such as beans and whole grains. MEAL PLANNING FOR CHILDREN WITH ... peppers. Starchy vegetables include corn, green peas, lima beans, carrots, yams and taro. Note that potato should ...

40 CFR 180.381 - Oxyfluorfen; tolerances for residues.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... following food commodities: Commodity Parts per million Blackberry 0.05 Chickpea, seed 0.05 Grass, forage 0.05 Grass, hay 0.05 Grass, seed screenings 0.05 Guava 0.05 Papaya 0.05 Raspberry 0.05 Taro, corm 0.05...

40 CFR 180.381 - Oxyfluorfen; tolerances for residues.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... following food commodities: Commodity Parts per million Blackberry 0.05 Chickpea, seed 0.05 Grass, forage 0.05 Grass, hay 0.05 Grass, seed screenings 0.05 Guava 0.05 Papaya 0.05 Raspberry 0.05 Taro, corm 0.05...

Use of Novel Whole Core Incubations to Measure the Fate of Fertilizer N in a Flooded Agricultural System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Penton, C. R.; Bruland, G. L.; Popp, B. N.; Engstrom, P.; Tiedje, J.; Brown, G. A.; Deenik, J. L.

2010-12-01

We developed a new whole-core perfusion technique for tracking the fate of 15NH4+ added to intact vegetated cores. Taro plants (Colocasia esculenta) were field-grown in (20 cm diameter) cores for three months, which allowed exchange with natural porewater, then harvested. Following core extraction, surface and porewater were removed and 15NH4+ labeled porewater was slowly re-introduced to the core through a perfusion cap in the laboratory. Mini porewater equilibrators were placed in 1 cm increments through the sediment profile for porewater extraction during incubation. We also independently tested the ability of taro roots to oxygenate the subsurface by growing plants in nutrient agar and measuring O2 flux with a microelectrode. In the agar experiment, diurnal O2 transport was monitored and the application of wind across the taro leaves was found necessary to develop an oxygenated zone at the root tips. Using this information, the harvested taro were incubated in growth chambers after perfusion using three treatments: Vegetated without wind, vegetated with wind, and a non-vegetated control. Porewater was analyzed for 29+30N2, 15NH4+, 15NO3-, and unlabeled nitrate and ammonium species. Plant uptake of 15NH4+ was also determined. Quantitative PCR was performed on the sediment profiles of functional genes involved in nitrogen cycling for correlation to N transformations. The major pathway of N loss was root-mediated nitrification/denitrification followed by a flow of 29+30N2 through the aerenchyma. The vegetated wind treatment exhibited the highest concentrations of labeled N2 in the subsurface during all time periods. In contrast, the vegetated no wind treatment had much higher aerenchyma 29+30N2 concentration, accounting for ~100% of the subsurface N2 accumulation by day three of the incubation. Surface water N2 concentrations were also highest in the no wind treatment. After nine days the 29+30N2 concentrations dropped by ~70%, with little difference remaining

ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Rhabdoviridae.

PubMed

Walker, Peter J; Blasdell, Kim R; Calisher, Charles H; Dietzgen, Ralf G; Kondo, Hideki; Kurath, Gael; Longdon, Ben; Stone, David M; Tesh, Robert B; Tordo, Noël; Vasilakis, Nikos; Whitfield, Anna E; Nbsp Ictv Report Consortium

2018-04-01

The family Rhabdoviridae comprises viruses with negative-sense (-) single-stranded RNA genomes of 10.8-16.1 kb. Virions are typically enveloped with bullet-shaped or bacilliform morphology but can also be non-enveloped filaments. Rhabdoviruses infect plants and animals including mammals, birds, reptiles and fish, as well as arthropods which serve as single hosts or act as biological vectors for transmission to animals or plants. Rhabdoviruses include important pathogens of humans, livestock, fish and agricultural crops. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the taxonomy of Rhabdoviridae, which is available at www.ictv.global/report/rhabdoviridae.

The family Rhabdoviridae: Mono- and bipartite negative-sense RNA viruses with diverse genome organization and common evolutionary origins

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dietzgen, Ralf G.; Kondo, Hideki; Goodin, Michael M.; Kurath, Gael; Vasilakis, Nikos

2017-01-01

The family Rhabdoviridae consists of mostly enveloped, bullet-shaped or bacilliform viruses with a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genome that infect vertebrates, invertebrates or plants. This ecological diversity is reflected by the diversity and complexity of their genomes. Five canonical structural protein genes are conserved in all rhabdoviruses, but may be overprinted, overlapped or interspersed with several novel and diverse accessory genes. This review gives an overview of the characteristics and diversity of rhabdoviruses, their taxonomic classification, replication mechanism, properties of classical rhabdoviruses such as rabies virus and rhabdoviruses with complex genomes, rhabdoviruses infecting aquatic species, and plant rhabdoviruses with both mono- and bipartite genomes.

Mercury uptake and accumulation by four species of aquatic plants.

PubMed

Skinner, Kathleen; Wright, Nicole; Porter-Goff, Emily

2007-01-01

The effectiveness of four aquatic plants including water hyacinth (Eichornia crassipes), water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes), zebra rush (Scirpus tabernaemontani) and taro (Colocasia esculenta) were evaluated for their capabilities in removing mercury from water. The plants were exposed to concentrations of 0 mg/L, 0.5 mg/L or 2 mg/L of mercury for 30 days. Assays were conducted using both Microtox (water) and cold vapor Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) (roots and water). The Microtox results indicated that the mercury induced acute toxicity had been removed from the water. AAS confirmed an increase of mercury within the plant root tissue and a corresponding decrease of mercury in the water. All species of plants appeared to reduce mercury concentrations in the water via root uptake and accumulation. Water lettuce and water hyacinth appeared to be the most effective, followed by taro and zebra rush, respectively.

9 CFR 205.206 - Farm products.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... specify by name) Dry beans, dry peas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, other vegetables (system must..., carrots, cauliflower, celery, corn sweet, cucumbers, eggplant, escarole, garlic, lettuce, onions, peas... nuts (system must specify by name) Bees wax, honey, maple syrup, sugar beets, sugar cane, other sugar...

7 CFR 210.10 - Meal requirements for lunches and requirements for afterschool snacks.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... group served in the school. In addition, school lunches must meet the dietary specifications in... specifications for calories, saturated fat, trans fat, and sodium. Foods of minimal nutritional value and fluid..., green bananas, green peas, green lima beans, plantains, taro, water chestnuts, and white potatoes; and...

A Novel General Chemistry Laboratory: Creation of Biomimetic Superhydrophobic Surfaces through Replica Molding

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verbanic, Samuel; Brady, Owen; Sanda, Ahmed; Gustafson, Carolina; Donhauser, Zachary J.

2014-01-01

Biomimetic replicas of superhydrophobic lotus and taro leaf surfaces can be made using polydimethylsiloxane. These replicas faithfully reproduce the microstructures of the leaves' surface and can be analyzed using contact angle goniometry, self-cleaning experiments, and optical microscopy. These simple and adaptable experiments were used to…

Employee Engagement and Performance of Lecturers in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agbionu, Uchenna Clementina; Anyalor, Maureen; Nwali, Anthony Chukwuma

2018-01-01

The study investigated employee engagement and performance of lecturers in Nigerian Tertiary Institutions. It employed descriptive and correlation research designs. Stratified random sampling was used to select three tertiary institutions in Nigeria and the sample size of 314 lecturers was obtained through Taro Yamane. Questionnaires were…

Availability and Distribution of Base Flow in Lower Honokohau Stream, Island of Maui

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fontaine, Richard A.

2003-01-01

Honokohau Stream is one of the few perennial streams in the Lahaina District of West Maui. Current Honokohau water-use practices often lead to conflicts among water users, which are most evident during periods of base flow. To better manage the resource, data are needed that describe the availability and distribution of base flow in lower Honokohau Stream and how base flow is affected by streamflow diversion and return-flow practices. Flow-duration discharges for percentiles ranging from 50 to 95 percent were estimated at 13 locations on lower Honokohau Stream using data from a variety of sources. These sources included (1) available U.S. Geological Survey discharge data, (2) published summaries of Maui Land & Pineapple Company, Inc. diversion and water development-tunnel data, (3) seepage run and low-flow partial-record discharge measurements made for this study, and (4) current (2003) water diversion and return-flow practices. These flow-duration estimates provide a detailed characterization of the distribution and availability of base flow in lower Honokohau Stream. Estimates of base-flow statistics indicate the significant effect of Honokohau Ditch diversions on flow in the stream. Eighty-six percent of the total flow upstream from the ditch is diverted from the stream. Immediately downstream from the diversion dam there is no flow in the stream 91.2 percent of the time, except for minor leakage through the dam. Flow releases at the Taro Gate, from Honokohau Ditch back into the stream, are inconsistent and were found to be less than the target release of 1.55 cubic feet per second on 9 of the 10 days on which measurements were made. Previous estimates of base-flow availability downstream from the Taro Gate release range from 2.32 to 4.6 cubic feet per second (1.5 to 3.0 million gallons per day). At the two principal sites where water is currently being diverted for agricultural use in the valley (MacDonald's and Chun's Dams), base flows of 2.32 cubic feet per

The family Rhabdoviridae: mono- and bipartite negative-sense RNA viruses with diverse genome organization and common evolutionary origins.

PubMed

Dietzgen, Ralf G; Kondo, Hideki; Goodin, Michael M; Kurath, Gael; Vasilakis, Nikos

2017-01-02

The family Rhabdoviridae consists of mostly enveloped, bullet-shaped or bacilliform viruses with a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA genome that infect vertebrates, invertebrates or plants. This ecological diversity is reflected by the diversity and complexity of their genomes. Five canonical structural protein genes are conserved in all rhabdoviruses, but may be overprinted, overlapped or interspersed with several novel and diverse accessory genes. This review gives an overview of the characteristics and diversity of rhabdoviruses, their taxonomic classification, replication mechanism, properties of classical rhabdoviruses such as rabies virus and rhabdoviruses with complex genomes, rhabdoviruses infecting aquatic species, and plant rhabdoviruses with both mono- and bipartite genomes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Indigenous agroforestry in American Samoa

Treesearch

Malala (Mike) Misa; Agnes M. Vargo

1993-01-01

Agroforestry exists in American Samoa as a system where indigenous trees and natural vegetation used for food, fuelwood, crafts and medicine are incorporated with traditional staple crops and livestock on a set piece of land, usually a mountainous slope. Most agroforests are taro-based (Colocasia esculenta). While nutritional, cultural, social,...

Immunosensor development for rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) detection using antibody nano-gold conjugate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uda, M. N. A.; Hasfalina, C. M.; Samsuzana, A. A.; Hashim, U.; Ariffin, Shahrul A. B.; Zamri, I.; Nur Sabrina, W.; B. Siti Noraini, B.; Faridah, S.; Mazidah, M.; Gopinath, Subash C. B.

2017-03-01

Rice tungro disease (RTD) causes major losses to rice crop plantation. Hence, a highly sensitive tools need to be developed for the detection of RTD which can be employed in both laboratory and field. An electrochemical immunosensor system for the detection of RTD, based on immobilized specific antibodies conjugated with gold nanoparticle was developed for this purpose. However, this paper focus for RTBV interaction using the conjugated antibodies which is added with polymer and deposited on carbon screen printed working electrodes.

Growth Performance and Biometric Characteristics of Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) Reared on Different Host Plants.

PubMed

Tuan, Shu-Jen; Li, Nian-Jhen; Yeh, Chih-Chun

2015-10-01

Spodoptera litura (F.), an important polyphagous insect pest, attacks ca. 300 economic crops in dozens of countries. Investigations into its growth and development performance on different host plants can provide an understanding of the potential for increase of S. litura population in the field. We measured the development time, body weight, and head capsule width of S. litura larvae reared on cabbage, taro, peanut, and sesbania, a green manure. Larvae reared on cabbage ingested a significantly higher amount of protein and completed the immature stages in a shorter period than those reared on the other three plants. The relationship between head capsule width and larval instars on these four crops fitted well with Dyar's rule, and the Dyar's ratios ranged from 1.4554 to 1.6786, although a few supernumerary instar individuals on sesbania, peanut, and taro showed lower ratios (1.0103 to 1.1330). The head capsule width among cohorts fed on different host plants varied significantly and overlapped between late instars, which could lead to a misjudgment of instar stage in the field. The growth index of S. litura on cabbage was significantly higher than on the other host plants. Larvae fed on sesbania showed the highest feeding index and a better growth index than on taro and peanut. We therefore suggest that the area-wide pest management against S. litura should take into consideration its occurrence on sesbania in intercropping seasons. Additionally, the effective management of this pest during cropping windows between all these four plants should not be ignored. © The Authors 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Magma intrusion near Volcan Tancitaro: Evidence from seismic analysis

DOE PAGES

Pinzon, Juan I.; Nunez-Cornu, Francisco J.; Rowe, Charlotte Anne

2016-11-17

Between May and June 2006, an earthquake swarm occurred near Volcan Tancítaro in Mexico, which was recorded by a temporary seismic deployment known as the MARS network. We located ~1000 events from this seismic swarm. Previous earthquake swarms in the area were reported in the years 1997, 1999 and 2000. We relocate and analyze the evolution and properties of the 2006 earthquake swarm, employing a waveform cross-correlation-based phase repicking technique. Hypocenters from 911 events were located and divided into eighteen families having a correlation coefficient at or above 0.75. 90% of the earthquakes provide at least sixteen phase picks. Wemore » used the single-event location code Hypo71 and the P-wave velocity model used by the Jalisco Seismic and Accelerometer Network to improve hypocenters based on the correlation-adjusted phase arrival times. We relocated 121 earthquakes, which show clearly two clusters, between 9–10 km and 3–4 km depth respectively. The average location error estimates are <1 km epicentrally, and <2 km in depth, for the largest event in each cluster. Depths of seismicity migrate upward from 16 to 3.5 km and exhibit a NE-SW trend. The swarm first migrated toward Paricutin Volcano but by mid-June began propagating back toward Volcán Tancítaro. In addition to its persistence, noteworthy aspects of this swarm include a quasi-exponential increase in the rate of activity within the first 15 days; a b-value of 1.47; a jug-shaped hypocenter distribution; a shoaling rate of ~5 km/month within the deeper cluster, and a composite focal mechanism solution indicating largely reverse faulting. As a result, these features of the swarm suggest a magmatic source elevating the crustal strain beneath Volcan Tancítaro.« less

Magma intrusion near Volcan Tancitaro: Evidence from seismic analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pinzon, Juan I.; Nunez-Cornu, Francisco J.; Rowe, Charlotte Anne

Between May and June 2006, an earthquake swarm occurred near Volcan Tancítaro in Mexico, which was recorded by a temporary seismic deployment known as the MARS network. We located ~1000 events from this seismic swarm. Previous earthquake swarms in the area were reported in the years 1997, 1999 and 2000. We relocate and analyze the evolution and properties of the 2006 earthquake swarm, employing a waveform cross-correlation-based phase repicking technique. Hypocenters from 911 events were located and divided into eighteen families having a correlation coefficient at or above 0.75. 90% of the earthquakes provide at least sixteen phase picks. Wemore » used the single-event location code Hypo71 and the P-wave velocity model used by the Jalisco Seismic and Accelerometer Network to improve hypocenters based on the correlation-adjusted phase arrival times. We relocated 121 earthquakes, which show clearly two clusters, between 9–10 km and 3–4 km depth respectively. The average location error estimates are <1 km epicentrally, and <2 km in depth, for the largest event in each cluster. Depths of seismicity migrate upward from 16 to 3.5 km and exhibit a NE-SW trend. The swarm first migrated toward Paricutin Volcano but by mid-June began propagating back toward Volcán Tancítaro. In addition to its persistence, noteworthy aspects of this swarm include a quasi-exponential increase in the rate of activity within the first 15 days; a b-value of 1.47; a jug-shaped hypocenter distribution; a shoaling rate of ~5 km/month within the deeper cluster, and a composite focal mechanism solution indicating largely reverse faulting. As a result, these features of the swarm suggest a magmatic source elevating the crustal strain beneath Volcan Tancítaro.« less

What children eat during afternoons and evenings: is it important?

PubMed

Rockell, Jennifer E; Skidmore, Paula M L; Parnell, Winsome R; Wilson, Noela

2011-03-01

To complete a description of the dietary intakes of New Zealand schoolchildren by describing afternoon and evening foods and nutrients. Twenty-four hour dietary recall data from the 2002 Children's Nutrition Survey were analysed to describe food and nutrient intakes during the afternoon (14.00 to 16.59 hours) and evening (17.00 to 23.59 hours). New Zealand homes and schools. Children (n 2875) aged 5-14 years. Most children consumed something during the afternoon (79 %) and evening (98 %). Children were less likely to consume something during non-school day afternoons; if 11-14 years of age; and when of Pacific ethnicity. Afternoon food consumers had higher daily intakes for most nutrients. Afternoon intake accounted for much of this difference. In the afternoon, children consumed fruit (26 %) and biscuits/crackers (21 %). Evening eating contributed to daily intakes of energy (40 %), fat (43 %), carbohydrate (35 %), sucrose (20 %), glucose (24 %), vitamin A (47 %), Ca (26 %) and Fe (40 %). Children aged 5-6 years consumed a lower proportion of their daily energy intake during the evening than older children. In the evening, just one-third of children consumed vegetables (45 % if including potato/kumara/taro), 19 % fruit and 17 % ate hot chips. Children were more likely to consume vegetables if they also consumed potato/kumara/taro. Twenty-three per cent of children had powdered drinks/cordials, 21 % had soft drinks and 19 % had milk. Consuming foods/drinks in the afternoon positively influenced macronutrient distribution, increasing the carbohydrate proportion. During the evening 40 % of energy intake was consumed but less than one-half of children consumed vegetables; thus inclusion of vegetables in the evening is important, particularly in meals without potato/kumara/taro.

78 FR 28507 - Spirotetramat; Pesticide Tolerances

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-15

... mail and hand delivery of objections and hearing requests are provided in 40 CFR 178.25(b). In addition... million (ppm); watercress at 1.5 ppm; pomegranate at 0.5 ppm; banana at 4 ppm; vegetable, bulb, group 3-07... Uses in/on Taro, Leaves; Watercress; Pomegranate; Banana; Vegetable, Bulb, Group 3-07; Low growing...

Indigenous Fallow Management on Yap Island

Treesearch

M.V.C. Falanruw; Francis Ruegorong

2002-01-01

On Yap Island, indigenous management of the fallow in shifting agriculture has resulted in the development of site-stable taro patch and tree garden agroforestry systems. These systems are relatively sustainable and supportive of household economies , with some surplus for local market sales. however, a broad range of crops whose harvest is complementary to those...

Hoea Ea: Land Education and Food Sovereignty in Hawaii

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyer, Manulani Aluli

2014-01-01

This short piece offers two literal and figurative snapshots of what land education looks like in action in Hawaii. The first snapshot depicts a contemporary example of Indigenous Hawaiian taro cultivation in the Limahuli valley on the island of Kauai. The second snapshot illustrates the food sovereignty movement in Waianae, Oahu located at the…

A mathematical model of transmission of rice tungro disease by Nephotettix Virescens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blas, Nikki T.; Addawe, Joel M.; David, Guido

2016-11-01

One of the major threats in rice agriculture is the Tungro virus, which is transmitted semi-persistently to rice plants via green rice leafhoppers called Nephotettix Virescens. Tungro is polycyclic and complex disease of rice associated by dual infection with Rice Tungro Bacilliform Virus (RTBV) and Rice Tungro Spherical Virus (RTSV). Interaction of the two viruses results in the degeneration of the host. In this paper, we used a plant-vector system of ordinary differential equations to model the spread of the disease in a model rice field. Parameter values were obtained from studies on the entomology of Nephotettix Virescens and infection rates of RTSV and RTBV. The system was analyzed for equilibrium solutions, and solved numerically for susceptible rice varieties (Taichung Native 1).

JPRS Report, China

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-02-25

the izing in processing bajiao banana and taro noodles . It has 1990’s"] invested a labor force of more than 300 people, or 63 percent of the village’s...Tier Operation Is a Progressive the policy of taking collective economy as the mainstay Process, and We Should Not Seek Instant Results; It and

Traditional adaptation to natural processes of erosion and sedimentation on Yap Island

Treesearch

Marjorie C. Falanruw

1990-01-01

Yap is a high island with a mean annual rainfall of 3040 mm and considerable potential for erosion. The island once supported a dense population with a nature-intensive technology. The traditional food production system incorporated tree gardens which mimic natural forests in intercepting rainfall and holding the soil, and taro patch system which mimic swamp forests...

Where I'm Coming From

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chin, Frank

1976-01-01

Asserts that Asian American kids are looking for Asian American characters with a style that commands attention and respect in terms they can understand. Only in the works of Taro Yashima and Lawrence Yep are the literary sensibility, language and vision of Asian and Asian American culture. We need a body of Asian American myth to form and express…

Molecular characterization of previously elusive badnaviruses associated with symptomatic cacao in the New World.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

ABSTRACT Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) is a tropical tree cultivated for beans used to make chocolate. Distinct virus-like symptoms, referred to as the putative Cacao Trinidad virus (CTV) strains A and B, have been observed in Trinidad and Tobago since 1944, however, viral etiology had not been demon...

Tuber Storage Proteins

PubMed Central

SHEWRY, PETER R.

2003-01-01

A wide range of plants are grown for their edible tubers, but five species together account for almost 90 % of the total world production. These are potato (Solanum tuberosum), cassava (Manihot esculenta), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatus), yams (Dioscorea spp.) and taro (Colocasia, Cyrtosperma and Xanthosoma spp.). All of these, except cassava, contain groups of storage proteins, but these differ in the biological properties and evolutionary relationships. Thus, patatin from potato exhibits activity as an acylhydrolase and esterase, sporamin from sweet potato is an inhibitor of trypsin, and dioscorin from yam is a carbonic anhydrase. Both sporamin and dioscorin also exhibit antioxidant and radical scavenging activity. Taro differs from the other three crops in that it contains two major types of storage protein: a trypsin inhibitor related to sporamin and a mannose‐binding lectin. These characteristics indicate that tuber storage proteins have evolved independently in different species, which contrasts with the highly conserved families of storage proteins present in seeds. Furthermore, all exhibit biological activities which could contribute to resistance to pests, pathogens or abiotic stresses, indicating that they may have dual roles in the tubers. PMID:12730067

Glycemic Index Biscuits Formulation of Pedada Flour (Sonneratia caseolaris) with Tubers Starch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jariyah; Susiloningsih, E. K. B.; Nilasari, K.

2018-01-01

The glycemic index of food is the level of food according to its effect on blood glucose levels. Foods with low glycemic index have been shown to improve glucose and fat levels in people with diabetes mellitus and improve insulin resistance. Pedada Fruits (Sonneratia caseolaris) is the one of mangrove fruits has a high fiber content, so it can be used as a raw material in biscuits production. The aim of this research to evaluate the glycemic index on the formula biscuit from the pedada flour and starch from white sweet potato, arrowroot, taro, potato and cassava mixed. This research used completely randomized design in factorial patern with one factor and five levels on formulation biscuit of pedada flour with tubers starch (20% : 80%). The biscuits product were measured of the proximate, crude fiber, glycemic index and glycemic load on wistar rats. The best treatment was 20% of pedada flour with 80% of taro starch which produced biscuit with 76.24% of yield, 2.58% of protein, 15.55% of fat, 2.72% of crude fiber, 48.83 of glycemic index and 7.39 of glycemic load.

Cadmium, Zinc, and Selenium Levels in Carcinoma of the Human Prostate

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-01

tissue (4-6). Cadmium (Cd) possesses carcinogenic effect that is hormonally mediated (7, 8), and is recognized as a risk factor in development of...in prostatic cells [28], and that the carcinogenic effect of Cd can be hormonally mediated [13, 29]. Protective Factors - Selenium and Zinc Se...studies have shown that this generation of Pacific Islands people have traditional diets, eating more taro, shellfish and fresh vegetables, and

Talisman-Saber 2009 Remote Sensing Experiment

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-03-30

approximately 0.1 km2 Foster Botanical Garden to obtain spectra of vegetation indigenous to Oahu and from several specialty gardens, spectra of plants ...A-4 Table 1. Plant species studied at Foster Botanical Garden on November 19, 2008. Scientific Name Common Name Remarks Acacia koa Koa Endemic...Job’s tear Common along streams and ditches in Hawaii. Colocasia esculenta taro Native to tropical Polynesia and southeastern Asia. Cordia sebestena

Military Geology of Saipan, Mariana Islands. Volume 1: Introduction and Engineering Aspects

DTIC Science & Technology

1955-01-01

attempt inclusiveness or dis- tinction between endemic, indigenous, and introduced. In the past the coconut palm was important in the native economy...to replant the coconut more extensively. Bananas, taro, tapioca, yams, and sweet potatoes are extensively raised, and the breadfruit, pandanus, and...34 ’ ,’A Oil : 9 Punlan Tanks 19 -85- EXPLANATION 1685 69 sind Very compact limestone Massive, unweathered rock, overlain by none to as much

Information Technology Industry 2004

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-01-01

American Chamber of Commerce – Japan Diet Member Mr. Taro Kono Sony Media World NTT DoCoMo Asia Technology Information Program Japan IT...lines by entering consumer electronic markets (plasma and LCD televisions, digital cameras, and digital music players, etc.) with higher profit...in “business to business” sales. BEA Systems and IBM lead sales in this software sub-market. Likewise, Nintendo and Sony continue to dominate the

JPRS Report. Science & Technology: Japan.

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-09

Molding Technology [Takashi Kasai , Akihiko Hirota; KIKAI TO KOGU, May 88] 106 Injection Molding Technology [Toshiyuki Iwahashi; KIKAI TO KOGU, May 88...Development Shu Isa -Planning Office Fumio Sato —Control Office Shizuka Kudo - Patent Office Taro Inoue —Technical Information Office Takeshi...the possibility that a more serious situation could occur. Fumio Kaneko, who is in charge of the marine sector, joined the company in 1971 after

Russia’s Prospects in Asia

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-12-01

perception of a Japanese threat—but the territorial issue continues to spoil an atmosphere conducive to warm bilateral relations. Fortunately, it... Japanese Prime Ministers Taro Aso and Yukio Hatoyama. In the economic field, a new impulse to bilateral cooperation was triggered by Prime Minis- ter...enriched uranium to Japan’s nuclear plants at a low price. Japanese firms that are world leaders in advanced nuclear technologies will in turn be

Agroforestry: Conifers. (Latest citations from the Cab Abstracts database). NewSearch

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The bibliography contains citations concerning the use of lands forested with conifers for crop and livestock production. Citations cover the grazing of livestock and the production of crops, including tomatoes, soybeans, lespedeza, wheat, rape, taro, cotton, cabbages, ginger, watermelons, and strawberries. Livestock discussed include cattle, sheep, geese, and horses. Economic analyses and economic models are presented. (Contains a minimum of 147 citations and includes a subject term index and title list.)

Molecular variability analysis of five new complete cacao swollen shoot virus genomic sequences.

PubMed

Muller, E; Sackey, S

2005-01-01

Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV), a member of the family Caulimovi-ridae, genus Badnavirus occurs in all the main cacao-growing areas of West Africa. We amplified, cloned and sequenced complete genomes of five new isolates, two originating from Togo and three originating from Ghana. The genome of these five newly sequenced isolates all contain the five putative open reading frames I, II, III, X and Y described for the first sequenced CSSV isolate, Agou1 originating from Togo. Their genomes have been aligned with the genome of Agou1. The nucleotide and amino acid sequence identities between isolates have been calculated and a phylogenetic analysis has been made including other pararetroviruses. Maximum nucleotide sequence variability between complete genomes of CSSV isolates was 29.4%. Geographical differentiation between isolates appears more important than differentiation between mild and severe isolates. ORF X differs greatly in size and sequence between the Togolese isolates Nyongbo2 and Agou1, and the four other isolates, its functional role is therefore clearly questionable.

Development of extruded Ready-To-Eat (RTE) snacks using corn, black gram, roots and tuber flour blends.

PubMed

Reddy, M Kavya; Kuna, Aparna; Devi, N Lakshmi; Krishnaiah, N; Kaur, Charanjit; Nagamalleswari, Y

2014-09-01

Extruded RTE snacks were prepared from flour blends made with corn flour, Bengal gram flour, roots and tuber flours in a proportion of 60-80: 20: 20 respectively and moisture was adjusted to 17-20 %. The roots and tubers flours were developed from potato (Solanum tuberosum), yam (Dioscorea spp.), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.), taro (Colocassia esculenta) and beet root (Beta vulgaris). Different formulations were extruded at 80 ± 5 °C (heater I) and 95-105 °C (heater II) temperature, 300-350 rpm screw speed, 100 ± 10 °C die temperature and 15 ± 2 kg/h feed rate. The exit diameter of the circular die was 3 mm. Sensory acceptability, physical parameters and nutrient analysis along with storage stability of the products was conducted. The fiber and energy content of the RTE extruded snack improved in experimental samples prepared using root and tuber flours. A serving of 100 g of the snack can provide more than 400 Kcal and 10 g of protein. The overall acceptability of RTE extruded products made with potato and taro were highly acceptable compared to yam and sweet potato. The study demonstrates utilization of roots and tuber flours as potential and diverse ingredients to enhance the appearance and nutritional properties in RTE extruded snack.

[Studies on the water quality of the river Po and its tributaries between Monte Cremona and Casalmaggiore. II. Period 1971-2].

PubMed

Bellelli, E; Bracchi, U; Sansebastiano, G

1976-01-01

The results relating to the research carried out on the river Po upstream and downstream Cremona town, at Casalmaggiore and at the mouths of the right side tributaries Arda-Ongina and Taro in the period 1971-72 are reported in the present note. The samplings took place once every month and on the same day flow measurements were effected by the Magistracy of the river Po in the five stations. The results of this first series of sampling have shown a good stability of the water quality of the river Po, in the different seasons and in the different hydrological conditions. No significative differences were poi nted out for the most part of the determined parameters between the stations upstream and downstream Cremona and Casalmaggiore, except the turbid load (turbidity, suspended matter at 105 degrees C, setteable solids) which presented at Casalmaggiore an average value absolutely higher than the calculated one which was achieved considering concentrations and river flow at Cremona and at the mouths of Arda-Ongina and Taro. With few exceptions the water quality keeps a good level for fish life and its actual pollution degree let us think it possible to improve the situation in a short time. Only microbiological parameters are excepted, as they exceed the proposed limits for recreation and bathing uses (W.Q.C.).

Evaluation of a "traditional food for health" intervention in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.

PubMed

Kaufer, Laura; Englberger, Lois; Cue, Roger; Lorens, Adelino; Albert, Kiped; Pedrus, Podis; Kuhnlein, Harriet V

2010-04-01

Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) faces increasing rates of non-communicable diseases related to the neglect of the traditional food system and the shift to consumption of imported food and adoption of sedentary lifestyles. To reverse this trend, a two-year, food-based intervention in one Pohnpeian community in FSM promoted local food production and consumption using a variety of approaches including education, training, agriculture and social marketing following a "Go Local" message. Foods promoted were banana, giant swamp taro, breadfruit and pandanus varieties, green leafy vegetables and fruits for their provitamin A and total carotenoids, vitamins, minerals and fiber content. An evaluation was conducted in a random sample of households (n=47) to examine the extent of dietary changes following the intervention. Results indicated increased (110%) provitamin A carotenoid intake; increased frequency of consumption of local banana (53%), giant swamp taro (475%), and local vegetables (130%); and increased dietary diversity from local food. Exposure to intervention activities was high and there were positive changes in attitudes towards local food. The intervention approaches appear to have been successful in this short period. It is likely that similar approaches in additional communities in Pohnpei and other parts of the Pacific would also be successful in promoting local food. Evidence gathering should continue to document the long-term health outcomes of increased reliance on local food.

Silicon Nanoclusters Embedded in SiO2 Studies by Raman Scattering

DTIC Science & Technology

2001-06-01

was partially supported by a CON- CYTEQ (Consejo de Ciencia y Tecnologia del Estado de Quer~taro) and CONACyT from Mexico. References [1] L. Rebohle, J...scattering F J. Espinoza-Beltrdnt, L. L. Diaz-FloresT, J. Morales-Herndndezl, J. M. Ydfiez-Lim6nt, F Rodriguez-Melgarejot, Y . V. VorobievT and J. Gonzflez...F. PNrez-Robles, R. Ramirez- Bon, Y . V. Vorobiev and J. Gonzdilez-Hern~indez, Microelectronic Engineering, 51-52, 659- 666 (2000). [6] K. Kim, Phys

Characterization of viral proteins of Oryctes baculovirus and comparison between two geographical isolates.

PubMed

Mohan, K S; Gopinathan, K P

1989-01-01

Bacilliform Oryctes baculovirus particles have been visualized in electron micrographs of midgut sections from virus infected Oryctes rhinoceros beetles. Morphologically the Indian isolate (Oryctes baculovirus, KI) resembled the previously reported Oryctes baculovirus, isolate PV505. The constituent proteins of baculovirus KI have been analysed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and by Western blots using polyclonal antibodies raised against the complete viral particles, as probes. A total of forty eight viral proteins have been identified. Fourteen viral proteins were located on the viral envelope. Among the proteins constituting the nucleocapsid, three were located internally within the capsid. A 23.5 kDa protein was tightly associated with viral DNA in the nucleocapsid core. Two envelope and seven capsid proteins of KI and PV505 revealed differences in SDS-PAGE profiles and glycosylation patterns. Immunoblotting of KI and PV505 proteins with anti KI antiserum demonstrated antigenic differences between the two viral isolates.

High-resolution melt and morphological analyses of mealybugs (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) from cacao: tools for the control of Cacao swollen shoot virus spread.

PubMed

Wetten, Andy; Campbell, Colin; Allainguillaume, Joël

2016-03-01

Mealybugs (Hemiptera: Coccoidea: Pseudococcidae) are key vectors of badnaviruses, including Cacao swollen shoot virus (CSSV), the most damaging virus affecting cacao (Theobroma cacao L.). The effectiveness of mealybugs as virus vectors is species dependent, and it is therefore vital that CSSV resistance breeding programmes in cacao incorporate accurate mealybug identification. In this work, the efficacy of a CO1-based DNA barcoding approach to species identification was evaluated by screening a range of mealybugs collected from cacao in seven countries. Morphologically similar adult females were characterised by scanning electron microscopy, and then, following DNA extraction, were screened with CO1 barcoding markers. A high degree of CO1 sequence homology was observed for all 11 individual haplotypes, including those accessions from distinct geographical regions. This has allowed the design of a high-resolution melt (HRM) assay capable of rapid identification of the commonly encountered mealybug pests of cacao. HRM analysis readily differentiated between mealybug pests of cacao that cannot necessarily be identified by conventional morphological analysis. This new approach, therefore, has potential to facilitate breeding for resistance to CSSV and other mealybug-transmitted diseases. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Optimisation of a cheap and residential small-scale production of edible crickets with local by-products as an alternative protein-rich human food source in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia.

PubMed

Caparros Megido, Rudy; Alabi, Taofic; Nieus, Clément; Blecker, Christophe; Danthine, Sabine; Bogaert, Jan; Haubruge, Éric; Francis, Frédéric

2016-01-30

The health status of the indigenous people of Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, is significantly lower compared with that of the rest of the nation. The domestication and mass production of insects may represent a sustainable, cost effective and high quality alternative source of protein to traditional livestock. This study aimed to optimise a cheap and residential cricket breeding system based on unused wild resources. The development of crickets, Teleogryllus testaceus (Walker), under seven diets composed of taro aerial parts, young cassava leaves, young cashew leaves and brown rice flour (with or without banana slices), versus a traditionally used broiler feed diet was studied. Cricket mortality was low in all diets, except the two cashew-based diets. Total biomass was significantly higher under the broiler feed, in addition to the two diets containing a combination of cassava leaf powder and brown rice. Yet, crickets fed with the taro diet had the highest percentage of protein. Concerning the breeding system cost, units using cassava leaves were the cheapest. Diets based on cassava leaves seem to be the most promising. Nevertheless, to produce crickets with a high body mass and a high protein level, a new experiments must be devised in which cassava leaf maturity will be adapted to fit with the cricket growth stage. Moreover, to reduce the cost of the breeding units, handmade local products should be used instead of purchased components. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

New position at Lamont-Doherty

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Three scientists at the Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory have been appointed to the position of Doherty Senior Research Scientist, newly created to recognize members of the observatory's senior research staff who have demonstrated “the highest levels of scholarship, scientific leadership, and promise of continuing excellence.”William Ruddiman, associate director of the observatory's Oceans and Climate Division, Taro Takahashi, associate director of the Geochemistry Division, and Dennis Kent, known for his research in paleomagnetics and rock magnetism, were each appointed to 5-year terms as Doherty Senior Research Scientists.

PCR analysis of the viral complex associated with La France disease of Agaricus bisporus.

PubMed Central

Romaine, C P; Schlagnhaufer, B

1995-01-01

Reverse transcription PCR analysis was used to investigate the involvement of two RNA-genome viruses, La France isometric virus (LIV) and mushroom bacilliform virus (MBV), in the etiology of La France disease of the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus. Reverse transcription PCR amplification of sequences targeted to the genomes of LIV and MBV, with a sensitivity of detection of < 10 fg of viral RNA, showed diseased mushrooms to be either singly infected by LIV or doubly infected by LIV and MBV. Of 70 geographically diverse diseased mushroom isolates, 100% were infected by LIV, whereas almost 60% of these isolates were coinfected by MBV. Of 58 mushroom isolates determined to be free of infection by LIV, 3 were found to be infected by MBV. This represents the first documented report of the independent replication of these two viruses. Our data support the hypothesis that La France disease is associated with infection by two autonomously replicating viruses in which LIV is the primary causal agent and MBV, although possibly pathogenic and capable of modulating symptoms, is not required for pathogenesis. PMID:7793952

Mutational Dynamics of Aroid Chloroplast Genomes

PubMed Central

Ahmed, Ibrar; Biggs, Patrick J.; Matthews, Peter J.; Collins, Lesley J.; Hendy, Michael D.; Lockhart, Peter J.

2012-01-01

A characteristic feature of eukaryote and prokaryote genomes is the co-occurrence of nucleotide substitution and insertion/deletion (indel) mutations. Although similar observations have also been made for chloroplast DNA, genome-wide associations have not been reported. We determined the chloroplast genome sequences for two morphotypes of taro (Colocasia esculenta; family Araceae) and compared these with four publicly available aroid chloroplast genomes. Here, we report the extent of genome-wide association between direct and inverted repeats, indels, and substitutions in these aroid chloroplast genomes. We suggest that alternative but not mutually exclusive hypotheses explain the mutational dynamics of chloroplast genome evolution. PMID:23204304

Effects of biomarkers of oxidative stress damage on prevalence and severity of visual disability among black Central Africans

PubMed Central

Muaka, M. Mvitu; Yokobo, E. Cibanda; Phemba, I. Longo; Mokondjimobe, E.; Gombet, T.; Ndembe, D. Kibokela; Mona, D. Tulomba; Masamba, S. Wayiza

2012-01-01

Background Because of the demographic transition, lifestyle changes, urbanization, and nutrition transition, Central Africans are at higher risk of ocular diseases associated with oxidative stress and visual disability. This study aimed to estimate the normal values of oxidant status defined by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL), 8-Isoprostane and 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and to determine their pathogenic role in the prevalence and the severity of visual disability among these black Africans. Methods This was a cross-sectional study, run in a case-control study randomly selected from Kinshasa province, DR Congo. The study included 150 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients (cases) matched for sex and age to 50 healthy non diabetic controls. Logistic regression models were used to identify independent determinants of visual disability. Results The presence rates were 8.5% for blindness, 20.5% for visual impairment and 29% for visual disability including blindness and visual impairment. After adjusted for taro leaves intake, red beans intake, T2DM, aging, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure, we identified low education level (OR=3.3 95%CI 1.5–7.2; p=0.003), rural-urban migration (OR=2.6 95% CI 1.2–5.6; p=0.017), and high Ox-LDL (OR=2.3 95% CI 1.1–4.7; p=0.029) as the important independent determinants of visual disability. After adjusted for education, intake of red beans, intake of taro leaves, triglycerides, and T2DM, we identified no intake of safou fruit (OR=50.7 95% CI 15.2–168.5; p<0.0001), rural-urban migration (OR=3.9 95%CI 1.213; p=0.012), and high 8-OHdG (OR=14.7 95% CI 3.9–54.5; p<0.0001) as the significant independent determinants of visual disability. After adjusted for education level, no intake of red beans, no intake of Taro leaves, triglycerides, and T2DM, we identified no intake of Safou fruit (OR=43.1 95% CI 13.7–135.4; p<0.0001), age≥60 years (OR=3.4 95% CI 1.3–9; p=0.024), and high 8-Isoprostane (OR

Effects of biomarkers of oxidative stress damage on prevalence and severity of visual disability among black Central Africans.

PubMed

Longo-Mbenza, B; Muaka, M Mvitu; Yokobo, E Cibanda; Phemba, I Longo; Mokondjimobe, E; Gombet, T; Ndembe, D Kibokela; Mona, D Tulomba; Masamba, S Wayiza

2012-01-01

Because of the demographic transition, lifestyle changes, urbanization, and nutrition transition, Central Africans are at higher risk of ocular diseases associated with oxidative stress and visual disability. This study aimed to estimate the normal values of oxidant status defined by oxidized low-density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL), 8-Isoprostane and 8-hydroxy-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and to determine their pathogenic role in the prevalence and the severity of visual disability among these black Africans. This was a cross-sectional study, run in a case-control study randomly selected from Kinshasa province, DR Congo. The study included 150 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients (cases) matched for sex and age to 50 healthy non diabetic controls. Logistic regression models were used to identify independent determinants of visual disability. The presence rates were 8.5% for blindness, 20.5% for visual impairment and 29% for visual disability including blindness and visual impairment. After adjusted for taro leaves intake, red beans intake, T2DM, aging, waist circumference, and systolic blood pressure, we identified low education level (OR=3.3 95%CI 1.5-7.2; p=0.003), rural-urban migration (OR=2.6 95% CI 1.2-5.6; p=0.017), and high Ox-LDL (OR=2.3 95% CI 1.1-4.7; p=0.029) as the important independent determinants of visual disability. After adjusted for education, intake of red beans, intake of taro leaves, triglycerides, and T2DM, we identified no intake of safou fruit (OR=50.7 95% CI 15.2-168.5; p<0.0001), rural-urban migration (OR=3.9 95%CI 1.213; p=0.012), and high 8-OHdG (OR=14.7 95% CI 3.9-54.5; p<0.0001) as the significant independent determinants of visual disability. After adjusted for education level, no intake of red beans, no intake of Taro leaves, triglycerides, and T2DM, we identified no intake of Safou fruit (OR=43.1 95% CI 13.7-135.4; p<0.0001), age ≥ 60 years (OR=3.4 95% CI 1.3-9; p=0.024), and high 8-Isoprostane (OR=11 95% CI 3.4-36.1; p<0.0001) as the

Dawn XMO2 Image 28

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-01-03

Meanderi Crater on Ceres is seen at lower right in this image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft. Meanderi -- named for the Ngaing goddess (New Guinea) of taro, sugar cane and other foods -- hosts several medium-sized craters within its walls. Meanderi measures 64 miles (103 kilometers) in diameter. The crater is centered at 41 degrees south, 194 degrees east. Dawn took this image on Oct. 26, 2016, during its second extended-mission science orbit (XMO2), from a distance of about 920 miles (1,480 kilometers) above the surface of Ceres. The image resolution is about 460 feet (140 meters) per pixel. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21248

Keratoconjunctivitis infectiosa ovis (KIO), 'pink eye' or 'zere oogjes' (a survey).

PubMed

König, C D

1983-07-01

The occurrence of keratoconjunctivitis infectiosa ovis (KIO) in the Netherlands was reported by Hofland et al. in 1969 for the first time. At present the disease is well known in the Netherlands. Nevertheless there are still questions about the causative agent and the most effective and easiest therapy. Most authors suppose that the disease is caused by Colesiota conjunctivae, although others mention infections by other chlamydia, Mycoplasma conjunctivae, Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, Acholeplasma oculi and a wide variety of bacteria. The diagnosis can be made on the basis of the symptoms and the detection of the agent in conjunctival scrapings. The bacilliform bodies can be found in conjunctival smears in the cytoplasm (Giemsa, Stamp). Many therapies are used topically, parenterally or orally. Locally used eye-ointments must be effective against Colesiota; antimicrobial drugs administered by injection must be effective against the latter and also provide a sufficient cell tissue penetration with excretion into the lacrimal fluids. Injections have proved to be easier to administer, especially in serious outbreaks, but such outbreaks are exceptional (18). Some therapies have been evaluated in small scale experiments (28) as well as in field trials (17).

Sequence analysis of ORF IV RTBV isolated from tungro infected Oryza sativa L. cv Ciherang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastilestari, Bernadetta Rina; Astuti, Dwi; Estiati, Amy; Nugroho, Satya

2015-09-01

The Effort to increase rice production is often constrained by pest and disease such as Tungro. The Tungro disease is caused by the joint infection with two dissimilar viruses; a bacil-form-DNA virus, the Rice tungro bacilliform virus(RTBV) and the spherical RNA virus, Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) and transmitted by Green leafhopper (Nephotettix virescens). The symptom of disease is caused by the presence of RTBV. The genome of RTBV consists of four Open reading frames (ORFs) which encode functional proteins. Of the four, ORF IV is unique because it exists only in RTBV. The most efficient method of generating disease resistance plants is to look for natural sources of resistance genes in wild or germplasm and then transfer the gene and the accompanying resistance in cultivated crop varieties. The aim of this study is, therefore, to isolate and analyze of 1170 bp gene of ORF 4 of Tungro virus isolated from an Indonesian rice cultivar, Ciherang (Oryza sativa L. cv Indica). DNA sequencing analysis using BLAST showed 94% similarity with the reference sequence gen bank Acc.M65026.1. The comparisons and mutation analysis of DNA sequences were discussed in this research.

Alterations of Food-specific Serum IgG4 Titers to Common Food Antigens in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome

PubMed Central

Lee, Hong Sub; Lee, Kwang Jae

2017-01-01

Background/Aims The role of dietary factors in the pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is still unclear. The aim of this study was to compare IgG4 levels to common food antigens between patients with IBS and healthy controls. Methods Thirty-two patients diagnosed as IBS according to the Rome III criteria (12 diarrhea subgroup; 20 non-diarrhea subgroup) and 32 sex and age-matched healthy controls participated in the study. Serum IgG4 titers to 90 common foods were measured in each subject. The number of subjects with positivity defined as the cut-off value ≥ 0.7 U/mL was compared. Results Patients with IBS had significantly higher IgG4 titers to wheat, leek and taro compared to those of controls. Serum IgG4 titers to ginger, cocoa, walnut, white radish, onion, and lettuce in IBS patients tended to be higher than controls. IgG4 titers to wheat, gluten and gliadin in the diarrhea subgroup, and lettuce, leek and taro in the non-diarrhea subgroup tended to be higher compared with controls. The number of subjects with positivity to apple, orange, lettuce, and leek was significantly higher in IBS patients than controls. The number of subjects with positivity to apple, orange, gluten, and gliadin in the diarrhea subgroup, and egg white, pineapple, soybean, lettuce, and leek in the non-diarrhea subgroup was significantly higher compared with controls. Conclusions Serum IgG4 antibody levels to some common foods are abnormally elevated in IBS patients. The type of foods with abnormally elevated serum IgG4 titers in the diarrhea subgroup may be different from that in the non-diarrhea subgroup. PMID:28992678

A variant of Rubus yellow net virus with altered genomic organization.

PubMed

Diaz-Lara, Alfredo; Mosier, Nola J; Keller, Karen E; Martin, Robert R

2015-02-01

Rubus yellow net virus (RYNV) is a member of the genus Badnavirus (family: Caulimoviridae). RYNV infects Rubus species causing chlorosis of the tissue along the leaf veins, giving an unevenly distributed netted symptom in some cultivars of red and black raspberry. Recently, a strain of RYNV was sequenced from a Rubus idaeus plant in Alberta, Canada, exhibiting such symptoms. The viral genome contained seven open reading frames (ORFs) with five of them in the sense-strand, including a large polyprotein. Here we describe a graft-transmissible strain of RYNV from Europe infecting cultivar 'Baumforth's Seedling A' (named RYNV-BS), which was sequenced using rolling circle amplification, enzymatic digestion, cloning and primer walking, and it was resequenced at a 5X coverage. This sequence was then compared with the RYNV-Ca genome and significant differences were observed. Genomic analysis identified differences in the arrangement of coding regions, promoter elements, and presence of motifs. The genomic organization of RYNV-BS consisted of five ORFs (four ORFs in the sense-strand and one ORF in the antisense-strand). ORFs 1, 2, and 3 showed a high degree of homology to RYNV-Ca, while ORFs 4 and 6 of RYNV-BS were quite distinct. Also, the predicted ORFs 5 and 7 in the RYNV-Ca were absent in the RYNV-BS sequence. These differences may account for the lack of aphid transmissibility of RYNV-BS.

Genetic variation of coat protein gene among the isolates of Rice tungro spherical virus from tungro-endemic states of the India.

PubMed

Mangrauthia, Satendra K; Malathi, P; Agarwal, Surekha; Ramkumar, G; Krishnaveni, D; Neeraja, C N; Madhav, M Sheshu; Ladhalakshmi, D; Balachandran, S M; Viraktamath, B C

2012-06-01

Rice tungro disease, one of the major constraints to rice production in South and Southeast Asia, is caused by a combination of two viruses: Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) and Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV). The present study was undertaken to determine the genetic variation of RTSV population present in tungro endemic states of Indian subcontinent. Phylogenetic analysis based on coat protein sequences showed distinct divergence of Indian RTSV isolates into two groups; one consisted isolates from Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh), Cuttack (Orissa), and Puducherry and another from West Bengal, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu). The results obtained from phylogenetic study were further supported with the SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism), INDELs (insertion and deletion) and evolutionary distance analysis. In addition, sequence difference count matrix revealed 2-68 nucleotides differences among all the Indian RTSV isolates taken in this study. However, at the protein level these differences were not significant as revealed by Ka/Ks ratio calculation. Sequence identity at nucleotide and amino acid level was 92-100% and 97-100%, respectively, among Indian isolates of RTSV. Understanding of the population structure of RTSV from tungro endemic regions of India would potentially provide insights into the molecular diversification of this virus.

Blood count and C-reactive protein evolution in gastric cancer patients with total gastrectomy surgery

PubMed Central

CSENDES J., Attila; MUÑOZ Ch., Andrea; BURGOS L., Ana María

2014-01-01

Background The complete blood count (CBC) and C-reactive protein (CRP) are useful inflammatory parameters for ruling out acute postoperative inflammatory complications. Aim To determine their changes in gastric cancer patients submitted to total gastrectomy. Methods This is a prospective study, with 36 patients with gastric cancer who were submitted to elective total gastrectomy. On the first, third and fifth postoperative day (POD), blood count and CRP changes were assessed. Patients with postoperative complications were excluded. Results Twenty-one (58%) were men and 15 (42%) women. The mean age was 65 years. The leukocytes peaked on the 1st POD with a mean of 13,826 u/mm³, and decreased to 8,266 u/mm³ by the 5th POD. The bacilliforms peaked on the 1st POD with a maximum value of 1.48%. CRP reached its maximum level on the 3rd POD with a mean of 144.64 mg/l±44.84. Preoperative hematocrit (HCT) was 35% and 33.67% by the 5th POD. Hemoglobin, showed similar values. Conclusions Leukocytes increased during the 1st POD but reached normal values by the 5th POD. CRP peaked on the 3rd POD but did not reach normal values by the 5th POD. PMID:25626929

Observation of EAS using a large water tank

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Inoue, K.; Sakuyama, H.; Suzuki, N.; Suzuki, T.

1985-01-01

Using a large water tank (30 m in diameter, 4.5 m in depth) transition of extensive air showers (EAS) was investigated at Taro (200 m above sea level). There are set 150,0.4 sq m proportional counters on the bottom of the water tank. A conventional EAS array of 25 plastic scintillation detectors was arranged within several tens meter from the water tank. A proportional counter (10x10x200 cc x2) is made of a square shaped pipe of iron. Tungsten wire (100 mu m phi) is stretched tight in the center of the counter. A gas mixture of 90% argon and 10% methane is used at 760 mmHg. About 3000 EAS were obtained through 1 m of water since 1984.

The search for equality: representations of the smoking act among adolescent women.

PubMed

Sánchez Martínez, J Adriana; Ribeiro, Cléa Regina de Oliveira

2008-01-01

This study aimed to discover the representations of the smoking habit in both non-smoking and smoking female adolescents from a high school in Querétaro, Mexico. It is a qualitative research, carried out with 14 female adolescents in 2005. A semi-structured interview and a socioeconomic survey were used to collect data. Results evidenced adolescents know the biomedical discourse, which proposes that smoking causes serious consequences to health. However, there are other symbolic reasons that influence its use such as the search for equality and image, since they think men find smoking women more attractive and mature. Peer pressure represents an important factor for women to smoke by validating its practice and minimizing its effects to the body.

Expression and the antigenicity of recombinant coat proteins of tungro viruses expressed in Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Yee, Siew Fung; Chu, Chia Huay; Poili, Evenni; Sum, Magdline Sia Henry

2017-02-01

Rice tungro disease (RTD) is a recurring disease affecting rice farming especially in the South and Southeast Asia. The disease is commonly diagnosed by visual observation of the symptoms on diseased plants in paddy fields and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). However, visual observation is unreliable and PCR can be costly. High-throughput as well as relatively cheap detection methods are important for RTD management for screening large number of samples. Due to this, detection by serological assays such as immunoblotting assays and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay are preferred. However, these serological assays are limited by lack of continuous supply of antibodies as reagents due to the difficulty in preparing sufficient purified virions as antigens. This study aimed to generate and evaluate the reactivity of the recombinant coat proteins of Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) and Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) as alternative antigens to generate antibodies. The genes encoding the coat proteins of both viruses, RTBV (CP), and RTSV (CP1, CP2 and CP3) were cloned and expressed as recombinant fusion proteins in Escherichia coli. All of the recombinant fusion proteins, with the exception of the recombinant fusion protein of the CP2 of RTSV, were reactive against our in-house anti-tungro rabbit serum. In conclusion, our study showed the potential use of the recombinant fusion coat proteins of the tungro viruses as alternative antigens for production of antibodies for diagnostic purposes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Determination of acrylamide in Thai-conventional snacks from Nong Mon market, Chonburi using GC-MS technique.

PubMed

Komthong, P; Suriyaphan, O; Charoenpanich, J

2012-01-01

Acrylamide in Thai-conventional snacks was analysed by GC/MS with a linear response ranged of 5-50 µg and r² > 0.99. The limit of detection (s/n = 3) and limit of quantification (s/n = 10) were 4 and 15 µg kg⁻¹, respectively, and RSD < 2%. Acrylamide in 19 food samples ranged from <15 µg kg⁻¹ to 1.26 mg kg⁻¹ with highest concentrations in Kanom Jak. Moderate levels (150-500 µg kg⁻¹) were detected mostly in deep-fried products, especially sweet potato and taro crisps, Kanom Kai Hong, banana fritters, durian chips and spring rolls. Thai-conventional snacks possessed low concentrations (<150 µg kg⁻¹) including Khao Larm, Pa Tong Koo, sweet banana crisps and deep-fried Chinese wonton. Acrylamide was lowest (<15 µg kg⁻¹) in fish strips, rice crackers, Hoi Jor and fried fish balls. Dietary habits by 400 tourists indicate a daily intake of acrylamide <150 ng, well below a toxic dose.

Portable X-ray powder diffractometer for the analysis of art and archaeological materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nakai, Izumi; Abe, Yoshinari

2012-02-01

Phase identification based on nondestructive analytical techniques using portable equipment is ideal for the analysis of art and archaeological objects. Portable(p)-XRF and p-Raman are very widely used for this purpose, yet p-XRD is relatively rare despite its importance for the analysis of crystalline materials. This paper overviews 6 types of p-XRD systems developed for analysis of art and archaeological materials. The characteristics of each system are compared. One of the p-XRD systems developed by the authors was brought to many museums as well as many archeological sites in Egypt and Syria to characterize the cultural heritage artifacts, e.g., amulet made of Egyptian blue, blue painted pottery, and Islamic pottery from Egypt, jade from China, variscite from Syria, a Japanese classic painting drawn by Korin Ogata, and oil paintings drawn by Taro Okamoto. Practical application data are shown to demonstrate the potential ability of the method for analysis of various art and archaeological materials.

Microstructure, thermal properties and crystallinity of amadumbe starch nanocrystals.

PubMed

Mukurumbira, Agnes; Mariano, Marcos; Dufresne, Alain; Mellem, John J; Amonsou, Eric O

2017-09-01

Amadumbe (Colocasia esculenta), commonly known as taro is a tropical tuber that produces starch-rich underground corms. In this study, the physicochemical properties of starch nanocrystals (SNC) prepared by acid hydrolysis of amadumbe starches were investigated. Two varieties of amadumbe corms were used for starch extraction. Amadumbe starches produced substantially high yield (25%) of SNC's. These nanocrystals appeared as aggregated and individual particles and possessed square-like platelet morphology with size: 50-100nm. FTIR revealed high peak intensities corresponding to OH stretch, CH stretch and H 2 O bending vibrations for SNCs compared to their native starch counterparts. Both the native starch and SNC exhibited the A-type crystalline pattern. However, amadumbe SNCs showed higher degree of crystallinity and slightly reduced melting temperatures than their native starches. Amadumbe SNCs presented similar thermal decomposition property as their native starches. Amadumbe starch nanocrystals may have potential application in biocomposite films due to their square-like platelet morphology. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A search for model parsimony in a real time flood forecasting system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossi, G.; Balistrocchi, M.

2009-04-01

As regards the hydrological simulation of flood events, a physically based distributed approach is the most appealing one, especially in those areas where the spatial variability of the soil hydraulic properties as well as of the meteorological forcing cannot be left apart, such as in mountainous regions. On the other hand, dealing with real time flood forecasting systems, less detailed models requiring a minor number of parameters may be more convenient, reducing both the computational costs and the calibration uncertainty. In fact in this case a precise quantification of the entire hydrograph pattern is not necessary, while the expected output of a real time flood forecasting system is just an estimate of the peak discharge, the time to peak and in some cases the flood volume. In this perspective a parsimonious model has to be found in order to increase the efficiency of the system. A suitable case study was identified in the northern Apennines: the Taro river is a right tributary to the Po river and drains about 2000 km2 of mountains, hills and floodplain, equally distributed . The hydrometeorological monitoring of this medium sized watershed is managed by ARPA Emilia Romagna through a dense network of uptodate gauges (about 30 rain gauges and 10 hydrometers). Detailed maps of the surface elevation, land use and soil texture characteristics are also available. Five flood events were recorded by the new monitoring network in the years 2003-2007: during these events the peak discharge was higher than 1000 m3/s, which is actually quite a high value when compared to the mean discharge rate of about 30 m3/s. The rainfall spatial patterns of such storms were analyzed in previous works by means of geostatistical tools and a typical semivariogram was defined, with the aim of establishing a typical storm structure leading to flood events in the Taro river. The available information was implemented into a distributed flood event model with a spatial resolution of 90m

Cross-Species Functionality of Pararetroviral Elements Driving Ribosome Shunting

PubMed Central

Pooggin, Mikhail M.; Fütterer, Johannes; Hohn, Thomas

2008-01-01

Background Cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV) and Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV) belong to distinct genera of pararetroviruses infecting dicot and monocot plants, respectively. In both viruses, polycistronic translation of pregenomic (pg) RNA is initiated by shunting ribosomes that bypass a large region of the pgRNA leader with several short (s)ORFs and a stable stem-loop structure. The shunt requires translation of a 5′-proximal sORF terminating near the stem. In CaMV, mutations knocking out this sORF nearly abolish shunting and virus viability. Methodology/Principal Findings Here we show that two distant regions of the CaMV leader that form a minimal shunt configuration comprising the sORF, a bottom part of the stem, and a shunt landing sequence can be replaced by heterologous sequences that form a structurally similar configuration in RTBV without any dramatic effect on shunt-mediated translation and CaMV infectivity. The CaMV-RTBV chimeric leader sequence was largely stable over five viral passages in turnip plants: a few alterations that did eventually occur in the virus progenies are indicative of fine tuning of the chimeric sequence during adaptation to a new host. Conclusions/Significance Our findings demonstrate cross-species functionality of pararetroviral cis-elements driving ribosome shunting and evolutionary conservation of the shunt mechanism. We are grateful to Matthias Müller and Sandra Pauli for technical assistance. This work was initiated at Friedrich Miescher Institute (Basel, Switzerland). We thank Prof. Thomas Boller for hosting the group at the Institute of Botany. PMID:18286203

Evolutionary force of AT-rich repeats to trap genomic and episomal DNAs into the rice genome: lessons from endogenous pararetrovirus.

PubMed

Liu, Ruifang; Koyanagi, Kanako O; Chen, Sunlu; Kishima, Yuji

2012-12-01

In plant genomes, the incorporation of DNA segments is not a common method of artificial gene transfer. Nevertheless, various segments of pararetroviruses have been found in plant genomes in recent decades. The rice genome contains a number of segments of endogenous rice tungro bacilliform virus-like sequences (ERTBVs), many of which are present between AT dinucleotide repeats (ATrs). Comparison of genomic sequences between two closely related rice subspecies, japonica and indica, allowed us to verify the preferential insertion of ERTBVs into ATrs. In addition to ERTBVs, the comparative analyses showed that ATrs occasionally incorporate repeat sequences including transposable elements, and a wide range of other sequences. Besides the known genomic sequences, the insertion sequences also represented DNAs of unclear origins together with ERTBVs, suggesting that ATrs have integrated episomal DNAs that would have been suspended in the nucleus. Such insertion DNAs might be trapped by ATrs in the genome in a host-dependent manner. Conversely, other simple mono- and dinucleotide sequence repeats (SSR) were less frequently involved in insertion events relative to ATrs. Therefore, ATrs could be regarded as hot spots of double-strand breaks that induce non-homologous end joining. The insertions within ATrs occasionally generated new gene-related sequences or involved structural modifications of existing genes. Likewise, in a comparison between Arabidopsis thaliana and Arabidopsis lyrata, the insertions preferred ATrs to other SSRs. Therefore ATrs in plant genomes could be considered as genomic dumping sites that have trapped various DNA molecules and may have exerted a powerful evolutionary force. © 2012 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Folate content and retention in commonly consumed vegetables in the South Pacific.

PubMed

Maharaj, Prayna P P; Prasad, Surendra; Devi, Riteshma; Gopalan, Romila

2015-09-01

This paper reports the effect of boiling and frying on the retention of folate in commonly consumed Fijian vegetables (drumstick leaves, taro leaves, bele leaves, amaranth leaves, fern/ota, okra and French bean). The folate content was determined by microbiological assay (Lactobacillus casei rhamnosus) and tri-enzyme (protease, α-amylase and chicken pancreas conjugase) extraction treatment. The folate loss varied among the vegetables from 10-64% on boiling while 1-36% on frying. The higher folate loss was observed during boiling. The folate content in the water derived after boiling different vegetables ranged from 11.9 ± 0.5 to 61.6 ± 2.5 μg/100mL. The folate loss on boiling was accounted for in the cooking water. The predominant way of folate loss on boiling was leaching rather than thermal degradation which makes boiling the better choice of cooking the studied vegetables for folate intake, provided the cooking water is consumed together with the vegetables. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Polyphenols from Root, Tubercles and Grains Cropped in Brazil: Chemical and Nutritional Characterization and Their Effects on Human Health and Diseases

PubMed Central

dos Santos Baião, Diego; Silva de Freitas, Cyntia; da Silva, Davi; Ribeiro Pereira, Patricia

2017-01-01

Throughout evolution, plants have developed the ability to produce secondary phenolic metabolites, which are important for their interactions with the environment, reproductive strategies and defense mechanisms. These (poly)phenolic compounds are a heterogeneous group of natural antioxidants found in vegetables, cereals and leguminous that exert beneficial and protective actions on human health, playing roles such as enzymatic reaction inhibitors and cofactors, toxic chemicals scavengers and biochemical reaction substrates, increasing the absorption of essential nutrients and selectively inhibiting deleterious intestinal bacteria. Polyphenols present in some commodity grains, such as soy and cocoa beans, as well as in other vegetables considered security foods for developing countries, including cassava, taro and beetroot, all of them cropped in Brazil, have been identified and quantified in order to point out their bioavailability and the adequate dietary intake to promote health. The effects of the flavonoid and non-flavonoid compounds present in these vegetables, their metabolism and their effects on preventing chronic and degenerative disorders like cancers, diabetes, osteoporosis, cardiovascular and neurological diseases are herein discussed based on recent epidemiological studies. PMID:28930173

Microbiological Quality and Incidence of Salmonella on Cherry Tomatoes at Retail in Querétaro, México.

PubMed

Leal-Cervantes, Marla G; Arvizu-Medrano, Sofía M; Martínez-Peniche, Ramón; Martínez-Gonzáles, Nanci E; Hernández-Iturriaga, Montserrat

2018-04-01

Multiple outbreaks related to Salmonella in tomatoes require an evaluation of the risk associated with cherry tomatoes due to the increase in its production, consumption, and marketing in Mexico's central region. The purpose of this study was to determine the microbial quality of cherry tomatoes obtained from two retail sale points (supermarkets and local markets). Cherry tomato samples (333) were collected from four supermarkets and from four local markets, and the contents of aerobic plate count, molds and yeasts, total coliforms, and Escherichia coli were quantified; the presence of Salmonella was simultaneously determined. The median values of the microbial populations were obtained, and the data were analyzed per the sampling site by using the Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The median of aerobic plate count content in tomatoes obtained from supermarkets ranged between 2.2 and 4.4 log CFU/g, and in markets from 2.9 to 4.8 log CFU/g. For molds and yeasts, the tomatoes from supermarkets (2.0 to 4.1 log CFU/g) and markets (1.5 to 4.5 log CFU/g) showed similar contents. Regardless of the sampling site, the values of total coliforms were very low, ranging from 1.0 to 1.8 log CFU/g. E. coli was detected in 5.4 and 20.1% of samples from supermarkets and markets, respectively; in both sites, the content was low (0.3 to 5.8 most probable number per g). The incidence of Salmonella was 14.1% in supermarkets and 7.8% in local markets. The results obtained from this investigation highlight the elevated risk for consumer health associated with the ingestion of cherry tomatoes.

Green crab Carcinus maenas symbiont profiles along a North Atlantic invasion route.

PubMed

Bojko, Jamie; Stebbing, Paul D; Dunn, Alison M; Bateman, Kelly S; Clark, Fraser; Kerr, Rose C; Stewart-Clark, Sarah; Johannesen, Ása; Stentiford, Grant D

2018-05-07

The green crab Carcinus maenas is an invader on the Atlantic coast of Canada and the USA. In these locations, crab populations have facilitated the development of a legal fishery in which C. maenas is caught and sold, mainly for use as bait to capture economically important crustaceans such as American lobster Homarus americanus. The paucity of knowledge on the symbionts of invasive C. maenas in Canada and their potential for transfer to lobsters poses a potential risk of unintended transmission. We carried out a histological survey for symbionts of C. maenas from their native range in Northern Europe (in the UK and Faroe Islands), and invasive range in Atlantic Canada. In total, 19 separate symbiotic associations were identified from C. maenas collected from 27 sites. These included metazoan parasites (nematodes, Profilicollis botulus, Sacculina carcini, Microphallidae, ectoparasitic crustaceans), microbial eukaryotes (ciliates, Hematodinium sp., Haplosporidium littoralis, Ameson pulvis, Parahepatospora carcini, gregarines, amoebae), bacteria (Rickettsia-like organism, milky disease), and viral pathogens (parvo-like virus, herpes-like virus, iridovirus, Carcinus maenas bacilliform virus and a haemocyte-infecting rod-shaped virus). Hematodinium sp. were not observed in the Canadian population; however, parasites such as Trematoda and Acanthocephala were present in all countries despite their complex, multi-species lifecycles. Some pathogens may pose a risk of transmission to other decapods and native fauna via the use of this host in the bait industry, such as the discovery of a virus resembling the previously described white spot syndrome virus (WSSV), B-virus and 'rod-shaped virus' (RV-CM) and amoebae, which have previously been found to cause disease in aquaculture (e.g. Salmo salar) and fisheries species (e.g. H. americanus).

Independently dated paleomagnetic secular variation records from the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haberzettl, Torsten; Henkel, Karoline; Kasper, Thomas; Ahlborn, Marieke; Su, Youliang; Wang, Junbo; Appel, Erwin; St-Onge, Guillaume; Stoner, Joseph; Daut, Gerhard; Zhu, Liping; Mäusbacher, Roland

2015-04-01

Magnetostratigraphy has been serving as a valuable tool for dating and confirming chronologies of lacustrine sediments in many parts of the world. Suitable paleomagnetic records on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and adjacent areas are, however, extremely scarce. Here, we derive paleomagnetic records from independently radiocarbon-dated sediments from two lakes separated by 250 km on the southern central TP, Tangra Yumco and Taro Co. Studied through alternating field demagnetization of u-channel samples, characteristic remanent magnetization (ChRM) directions document similar inclination patterns in multiple sediment cores for the past 4000 years. Comparisons to an existing record from Nam Co, a lake 350 km east of Tangra Yumco, a varve-dated record from the Makran Accretionary Wedge, records from Lakes Issyk-Kul and Baikal, and a stack record from East Asia reveal many similarities in inclination. This regional similarity demonstrates the high potential of inclination to compare records over the Tibetan Plateau and eventually date other Tibetan records stratigraphically. PSV similarities over such a large area (>3000 km) suggest a large-scale core dynamic origin rather than small scale processes like drift of the non-dipole field often associated with PSV records.

Water-quality reconnaissance of ground water in the inhabited outer islands of Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia, 1984-85

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hamlin, S.N.; Takasaki, K.J.

1996-01-01

A reconnaissance of ground-water quality in 24 inhabited outer islands in Chuuk State was made between January 1984 and October 1985. Most of the islands are part of low-lying coral atolls within the Western, Namonuito, Hall, and Mortlock Island Groups. A total of 648 wells were located and sampled for temperature and specific conductance. A few miscellaneous sites such as taro patches also were sampled. The nitrate concentration was determined for 308 water samples. To develop a relation between specific conductance and chloride concentration, the chloride concentration was determined for 63 water samples. In addition, 21 water samples were analyzed for major and trace constituent ion concentrations. Chloride and nitrate are the primary constituents affecting the potability of ground water in the inhabited outer islands of Chuuk State. The source of chloride in ground water is seawater, whereas nitrate is derived fro plant and animal waste materials. The chloride concentrations in many well waters exceed the World Health Organization guideline for drinking water, particularly in wells near the shoreline or on small islands. In addition, the nitrate concentrations in some well waters exceeded the World Health Organization guideline for drinking water.

[Application of Warthin-Starry stain, immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy in diagnosis of cat scratch disease].

PubMed

Huang, Juan; Dai, Lin; Lei, Song; Liao, Dian-ying; Wang, Xiao-qing; Luo, Tian-you; Chen, Yu; Hang, Zhen-biao; Li, Gan-di; Dong, Dan-dan; Xu, Gang; Gu, Zheng-ce; Hao, Ji-ling; Hua, Ping; He, Lei; Duan, Fang-lei

2010-04-01

To evaluate the diagnostic utility of Warthin-Starry silver stain, immunohistochemistry and transmission electron microscopy in the detection of human Bartonella henselae infection and pathologic diagnosis of cat scratch disease (CSD). The paraffin-embedded lymph node tissues of 77 histologically-defined cases of cat scratch disease collected during the period from January, 1998 to December, 2008 were retrieved and studied using Warthin-Starry silver stain (WS stain) and mouse monoclonal antibody against Bartonella henselae (BhmAB stain). Five cases rich in bacteria were selected for transmission electron microscopy. Under electron microscope, the organisms Bartonella henselae appeared polymorphic, round, elliptical, short rod or bacilliform shapes, ranged from 0.489 to 1.110 microm by 0.333 to 0.534 microm and often clustered together. Black short rod-shaped bacilli arranged in chains or clumps were demonstrated in 61.0% (47/77) of CSD by WS stain. The organisms were located outside the cells and lie mainly in the necrotic debris, especially near the nodal capsule. In 72.7% (56/77) of the cases, dot-like, granular as well as few linear positive signals were observed using BhmAB immunostain and showed similar localization. Positive results for both stains were identified in 59.7% (46/77) of the cases. When applying both stains together, Bartonella henselae was observed in 74.0% (57/77) of the case. The difference between the results obtained by WS stain and BhmAB immunostain was of statistical significance (P < 0.05). Bartonella henselae is the causative pathogen of cat scratch disease. WS stain, BhmAB immunostain and transmission electron microscopy are helpful in confirming the histologic diagnosis. Immunostaining using BhmAB can be a better alternative than WS stain in demonstrating the organisms.

Phenotyping of VIGS-mediated gene silencing in rice using a vector derived from a DNA virus.

PubMed

Kant, Ravi; Dasgupta, Indranil

2017-07-01

Target genes in rice can be optimally silenced if inserted in antisense or hairpin orientation in the RTBV-derived VIGS vector and plants grown at 28 °C and 80% humidity after inoculation. Virus induced gene silencing (VIGS) is a method used to transiently silence genes in dicot as well as monocot plants. For the important monocot species rice, the Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV)-derived VIGS system (RTBV-VIGS), which uses agroinoculation to initiate silencing, has not been standardized for optimal use. Here, using RTBV-VIGS, three sets of conditions were tested to achieve optimal silencing of the rice marker gene phytoene desaturase (pds). The effect of orientation of the insert in the RTBV-VIGS plasmid (sense, antisense and hairpin) on the silencing of the target gene was then evaluated using rice magnesium chelatase subunit H (chlH). Finally, the rice Xa21 gene, conferring resistance against bacterial leaf blight disease (BLB) was silenced using RTBV-VIGS system. In each case, real-time PCR-based assessment indicated approximately 40-80% fall in the accumulation levels of the transcripts of pds, chlH and Xa21. In the case of pds, the appearance of white streaks in the emerging leaves, and for chlH, chlorophyll levels and F v /F m ratio were assessed as phenotypes for silencing. For Xa21, the resistance levels to BLB were assessed by measuring the lesion length and the percent diseased areas of leaves, following challenge inoculation with Xanthomonas oryzae. In each case, the RTBV-MVIGS system gave rise to a discernible phenotype indicating the silencing of the respective target gene using condition III (temperature 28 °C, humidity 80% and 1 mM MES and 20 µM acetosyringone in secondary agrobacterium culture), which revealed the robustness of this gene silencing system for rice.

Crystal Structures of Major Envelope Proteins VP26 and VP28 from White Spot Syndrome Virus Shed Light on Their Evolutionary Relationship

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tang,X.; Wu, J.; Sivaraman, J.

2007-01-01

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is a virulent pathogen known to infect various crustaceans. It has bacilliform morphology with a tail-like appendage at one end. The envelope consists of four major proteins. Envelope structural proteins play a crucial role in viral infection and are believed to be the first molecules to interact with the host. Here, we report the localization and crystal structure of major envelope proteins VP26 and VP28 from WSSV at resolutions of 2.2 and 2.0 {angstrom}, respectively. These two proteins alone account for approximately 60% of the envelope, and their structures represent the first two structural envelopemore » proteins of WSSV. Structural comparisons among VP26, VP28, and other viral proteins reveal an evolutionary relationship between WSSV envelope proteins and structural proteins from other viruses. Both proteins adopt {beta}-barrel architecture with a protruding N-terminal region. We have investigated the localization of VP26 and VP28 using immunoelectron microscopy. This study suggests that VP26 and VP28 are located on the outer surface of the virus and are observed as a surface protrusion in the WSSV envelope, and this is the first convincing observation for VP26. Based on our studies combined with the literature, we speculate that the predicted N-terminal transmembrane region of VP26 and VP28 may anchor on the viral envelope membrane, making the core {beta}-barrel protrude outside the envelope, possibly to interact with the host receptor or to fuse with the host cell membrane for effective transfer of the viral infection. Furthermore, it is tempting to extend this host interaction mode to other structural viral proteins of similar structures. Our finding has the potential to extend further toward drug and vaccine development against WSSV.« less

Short ORF-Dependent Ribosome Shunting Operates in an RNA Picorna-Like Virus and a DNA Pararetrovirus that Cause Rice Tungro Disease

PubMed Central

Pooggin, Mikhail M.; Rajeswaran, Rajendran; Schepetilnikov, Mikhail V.; Ryabova, Lyubov A.

2012-01-01

Rice tungro disease is caused by synergistic interaction of an RNA picorna-like virus Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV) and a DNA pararetrovirus Rice tungro bacilliform virus (RTBV). It is spread by insects owing to an RTSV-encoded transmission factor. RTBV has evolved a ribosome shunt mechanism to initiate translation of its pregenomic RNA having a long and highly structured leader. We found that a long leader of RTSV genomic RNA remarkably resembles the RTBV leader: both contain several short ORFs (sORFs) and potentially fold into a large stem-loop structure with the first sORF terminating in front of the stem basal helix. Using translation assays in rice protoplasts and wheat germ extracts, we show that, like in RTBV, both initiation and proper termination of the first sORF translation in front of the stem are required for shunt-mediated translation of a reporter ORF placed downstream of the RTSV leader. The base pairing that forms the basal helix is required for shunting, but its sequence can be varied. Shunt efficiency in RTSV is lower than in RTBV. But in addition to shunting the RTSV leader sequence allows relatively efficient linear ribosome migration, which also contributes to translation initiation downstream of the leader. We conclude that RTSV and RTBV have developed a similar, sORF-dependent shunt mechanism possibly to adapt to the host translation system and/or coordinate their life cycles. Given that sORF-dependent shunting also operates in a pararetrovirus Cauliflower mosaic virus and likely in other pararetroviruses that possess a conserved shunt configuration in their leaders it is tempting to propose that RTSV may have acquired shunt cis-elements from RTBV during their co-existence. PMID:22396650

Preliminary phytochemical screening and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity of Philippine taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott var. PSB-VG #9)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebosada, Richemae Grace R.; Librando, Ivy L.

2017-01-01

The study was conducted to determine the anti-hyperglycemic property in terms of α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the various parts (corm, leaf and petiole) of Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott var. PSB-VG #9. Each of the plant parts were extracted with 95% ethanol and concentrated using a rotary evaporator at 40 °C. The crude extracts were screened for the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides and saponins using Thin Layer Chromatography. The α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the crude extracts (50 mg/L) were assayed spectrophotometrically using a microplate reader. The results of the phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, and saponins in the leaf part while flavonoids and saponins were detected in the petiole and only saponins were present in the corm. The assay showed that the percentage α-glucosidase inhibition of the 50 mg/L ethanolic crude extract of the corm, leaves and petiole of C. esculenta are 68.03, 71.64 and 71.39%, respectively. Statistical analysis shows significant differences in the α-glucosidase inhibition among the various plant parts. It can be concluded that the ethanolic crude extracts of the different parts of C. esculenta (L.) Schott var. PSB-VG #9 exhibited inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase and the presence of phytochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids and saponins may have contributed greatly to the inhibitory activity of the plant extract and can be further subjected for isolation of the therapeutically active compounds with antidiabetes potency.

Two new species of Gyrodactylus von Nordmann, 1832 from Profundulus oaxacae (Pisces: Profundulidae) from Oaxaca, Mexico, studied by morphology and molecular analyses.

PubMed

García-Vásquez, Adriana; Pinacho-Pinacho, Carlos Daniel; Martínez-Ramírez, Emilio; Rubio-Godoy, Miguel

2018-08-01

In the present study, two new species of Gyrodactylus are described from Profundulus oaxacae, a fish endemic to the Pacific slope of Oaxaca State, Mexico. Fishes were collected within their distribution range in 5 localities in the Atoyac-Verde River. Gyrodactylus montealbani n. sp. and G. zapoteco n. sp. were erected and characterized morphologically (sclerites of the attachment apparatus and the male copulatory organ) and molecularly (sequences of the Internal Transcribed Spacer region of rDNA). The haptoral sclerites of the new species are similar to those of Gyrodactylus iunuri and Gyrodactylus tepari, both recently described from the goodeid fish Goodea atripinnis, from the Mexican States of Jalisco and Querétaro, respectively; and to Gyrodactylus xtachuna described from the poeciliid Poeciliopsis gracilis in Veracruz State, Mexico - nonetheless, these species can all be discriminated based on their marginal hook morphology. Specimens of G. montealbani n. sp. and G. zapoteco n. sp. were sequenced, and were aligned with sequences of 25 other Gyrodactylus spp. Both Maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference analyses indicated that the two new species are members of independent, well-supported lineages - these are the first Gyrodactylus species described from Profundulus oaxacae. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Medicinal Uses of Poi

PubMed Central

Brown, Amy C.; Valiere, Ana

2006-01-01

Poi is a pasty starch made from the cooked, mashed corm of the taro plant (Colocasia esculenta L.). Originating in Asia, this root crop is now found primarily in tropical and subtropical regions and was a major dietary staple in the Pacific islands. We hypothesize that poi has potential use as a probiotic—defined by FAO/WHO as, “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit to the host.” No scientific studies have explored the possibility of poi being used as a probiotic in medical nutrition therapy, however, an investigator determined that the predominant bacteria in poi are Lactococcus lactis (95%) and Lactobacilli (5%), both of which are lactic acid-producing bacteria. This investigator also reported that poi contains significantly more of these bacteria per gram than yogurt. To determine if poi is beneficial for certain health conditions, a literature search was conducted to find all available research studies in which poi was used as a complementary treatment. Documented evidence suggests that poi shows promise for use in infants with allergies or failure-to-thrive. However, to support previous findings, more research needs to be conducted with poi and its potential use as a probiotic. PMID:15481740

Cyanogenic glycosides in plant-based foods available in New Zealand.

PubMed

Cressey, Peter; Saunders, Darren; Goodman, Janet

2013-01-01

Cyanogenic glycosides occur in a wide range of plant species. The potential toxicity of cyanogenic glycosides arises from enzymatic degradation to produce hydrogen cyanide, which may result in acute cyanide poisoning and has also been implicated in the aetiology of several chronic diseases. One hundred retail foods were sampled and analysed for the presence of total hydrocyanic acid using an acid hydrolysis-isonicotinic/barbituric acid colourimetric method. Food samples included cassava, bamboo shoots, almonds and almond products, pome fruit products, flaxseed/linseed, stone fruit products, lima beans, and various seeds and miscellaneous products, including taro leaves, passion fruit, spinach and canned stuffed vine leaves. The concentrations of total hydrocyanic acid (the hydrocyanic acid equivalents of all cyanogenic compounds) found were consistent with or lower than concentrations reported in the scientific literature. Linseed/flaxseed contained the highest concentrations of total hydrocyanic acid of any of the analysed foods (91-178 mg kg(-1)). Linseed-containing breads were found to contain total hydrocyanic acid at concentrations expected from their linseed content, indicating little impact of processing on the total hydrocyanic acid content. Simulation modelling was used to assess the risk due to the total hydrocyanic acid in fruit juice and linseed-containing bread. 

Rapid northward shift of the Indian Monsoon on the Tibetan Plateau at the end of the Little Ice Age

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Xiaolong; Xu, Baiqing; Günther, Franziska; Witt, Roman; Wang, Mo; Xie, Ying; Zhao, Huabiao; Li, Jiule; Gleixner, Gerd

2017-09-01

Variations in the Indian Monsoon (IM) and Westerlies (WS) significantly affect the climate on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) and have widespread ecological and socioeconomic impacts on the whole of Asian society. So far, however, the rate and magnitude of changes in the IM have still remained unclear. Here we report for the first time that the IM rapidly shifted northward at the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA). We used sediment proxies for humidity and moisture sources from the Taro Co Lake, which is located in the transition zone between the WS and IM. Our comprehensive survey of climate records for the TP and its peripheral mountain ranges revealed that the northern boundary of the IM (i.e., the southern boundary of the WS) lay along the southern slope of the Gandise Range ( 29.5°N) in the late LIA. In contrast, it passed quickly over the Gandise Range by at least 1.5° in latitude at the end of the LIA. Our results suggest that this rapid climatic shift was potentially triggered by the counteracting effects of blocking by the TP and its marginal orography, which hindered the northward movement of the IM, and the pulling thermal gradient of the TP.

Variability of chloroplast DNA and nuclear ribosomal DNA in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) and its wild relatives.

PubMed

Fregene, M A; Vargas, J; Ikea, J; Angel, F; Tohme, J; Asiedu, R A; Akoroda, M O; Roca, W M

1994-11-01

Chloroplast DNA (cp) and nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) variation was investigated in 45 accessions of cultivated and wild Manihot species. Ten independent mutations, 8 point mutations and 2 length mutations were identified, using eight restriction enzymes and 12 heterologous cpDNA probes from mungbean. Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis defined nine distinct chloroplast types, three of which were found among the cultivated accessions and six among the wild species. Cladistic analysis of the cpDNA data using parsimony yielded a hypothetical phylogeny of lineages among the cpDNAs of cassava and its wild relatives that is congruent with morphological evolutionary differentiation in the genus. The results of our survey of cpDNA, together with rDNA restriction site change at the intergenic spacer region and rDNA repeat unit length variation (using rDNA cloned fragments from taro as probe), suggest that cassava might have arisen from the domestication of wild tuberous accessions of some Manihot species, followed by intensive selection. M. esculenta subspp flabellifolia is probably a wild progenitor. Introgressive hybridization with wild forms and pressures to adapt to the widely varying climates and topography in which cassava is found might have enhanced the crop's present day variability.

A rapid silica spin column-based method of RNA extraction from fruit trees for RT-PCR detection of viruses.

PubMed

Yang, Fan; Wang, Guoping; Xu, Wenxing; Hong, Ni

2017-09-01

Efficient recovery of high quality RNA is very important for successful RT-PCR detection of plant RNA viruses. High levels of polyphenols and polysaccharides in plant tissues can irreversibly bind to and/or co-precipitate with RNA, which influences RNA isolation. In this study, a silica spin column-based RNA isolation method was developed by using commercially available silica columns combined with the application of a tissue lysis solution, and binding and washing buffers with high concentration guanidinium thiocyanate (GuSCN, 50% w/v), which helps remove plant proteins, polysaccharides and polyphenolic compounds. The method was successfully used to extract high quality RNA from citrus (Citrus aurantifolia), grapevine (Vitis vinifera), peach (Prunus persica), pear (Pyrus spp.), taro (Colocosia esculenta) and tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana) samples. The method was comparable to conventional CTAB method in RNA isolation efficiency, but it was more sample-adaptable and cost-effective than commercial kits. High quality RNA isolated using silica spin column-based method was successfully used for the RT-PCR and/or multiplex RT-PCR amplification of woody fruit tree viruses and a viroid. The study provided a useful tool for the detection and characterization of plant viruses. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Surface-Water Diversions on Habitat Availability for Native Macrofauna, Northeast Maui, Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gingerich, Stephen B.; Wolff, Reuben H.

2005-01-01

from the intensively studied streams were normalized to develop relations between the relative amount of diversion from a stream and the resulting relative change in habitat in the stream. These relations can be used to estimate changes in habitat for diverted streams in the study area that were not intensively studied. The relations indicate that the addition of even a small amount of water to a dry stream has a significant effect on the amount of habitat available. Equations relating stream base-flow changes to habitat changes can be used to provide an estimate of the relative habitat change in the study area streams for which estimates of diverted and natural median base flow have been determined but for which detailed habitat models were not developed. Stream water temperatures, which could have an effect on stream ecology and taro cultivation, were measured in five streams in the study area. In general, the stream temperatures measured at any of the monitoring sites were not elevated enough, based on currently available information, to adversely effect the growth or mortality of native aquatic macrofauna or to cause wetland taro to be susceptible to fungi and associated rotting diseases.

The unnatural history of Kāne'ohe Bay: coral reef resilience in the face of centuries of anthropogenic impacts.

PubMed

Bahr, Keisha D; Jokiel, Paul L; Toonen, Robert J

2015-01-01

Kāne'ohe Bay, which is located on the on the NE coast of O'ahu, Hawai'i, represents one of the most intensively studied estuarine coral reef ecosystems in the world. Despite a long history of anthropogenic disturbance, from early settlement to post European contact, the coral reef ecosystem of Kāne'ohe Bay appears to be in better condition in comparison to other reefs around the world. The island of Moku o Lo'e (Coconut Island) in the southern region of the bay became home to the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology in 1947, where researchers have since documented the various aspects of the unique physical, chemical, and biological features of this coral reef ecosystem. The first human contact by voyaging Polynesians occurred at least 700 years ago. By A.D. 1250 Polynesians voyagers had settled inhabitable islands in the region which led to development of an intensive agricultural, fish pond and ocean resource system that supported a large human population. Anthropogenic disturbance initially involved clearing of land for agriculture, intentional or accidental introduction of alien species, modification of streams to supply water for taro culture, and construction of massive shoreline fish pond enclosures and extensive terraces in the valleys that were used for taro culture. The arrival by the first Europeans in 1778 led to further introductions of plants and animals that radically changed the landscape. Subsequent development of a plantation agricultural system led to increased human immigration, population growth and an end to traditional land and water management practices. The reefs were devastated by extensive dredge and fill operations as well as rapid growth of human population, which led to extensive urbanization of the watershed. By the 1960's the bay was severely impacted by increased sewage discharge along with increased sedimentation due to improper grading practices and stream channelization, resulting in extensive loss of coral cover. The reefs of K�

PREFACE: Collapse Calderas Workshop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gottsmann, Jo; Aguirre-Diaz, Gerardo

2008-10-01

Caldera-formation is one of the most awe-inspiring and powerful displays of nature's force. Resultant deposits may cover vast areas and significantly alter the immediate topography. Post-collapse activity may include resurgence, unrest, intra-caldera volcanism and potentially the start of a new magmatic cycle, perhaps eventually leading to renewed collapse. Since volcanoes and their eruptions are the surface manifestation of magmatic processes, calderas provide key insights into the generation and evolution of large-volume silicic magma bodies in the Earth's crust. Despite their potentially ferocious nature, calderas play a crucial role in modern society's life. Collapse calderas host essential economic deposits and supply power for many via the exploitation of geothermal reservoirs, and thus receive considerable scientific, economic and industrial attention. Calderas also attract millions of visitors world-wide with their spectacular scenic displays. To build on the outcomes of the 2005 calderas workshop in Tenerife (Spain) and to assess the most recent advances on caldera research, a follow-up meeting was proposed to be held in Mexico in 2008. This abstract volume presents contributions to the 2nd Calderas Workshop held at Hotel Misión La Muralla, Querétaro, Mexico, 19-25 October 2008. The title of the workshop `Reconstructing the evolution of collapse calderas: Magma storage, mobilisation and eruption' set the theme for five days of presentations and discussions, both at the venue as well as during visits to the surrounding calderas of Amealco, Amazcala and Huichapan. The multi-disciplinary workshop was attended by more than 40 scientist from North, Central and South America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Contributions covered five thematic topics: geology, geochemistry/petrology, structural analysis/modelling, geophysics, and hazards. The workshop was generously supported by the International Association of Volcanology and the Chemistry of The Earth's Interior

The unnatural history of Kāne‘ohe Bay: coral reef resilience in the face of centuries of anthropogenic impacts

PubMed Central

Jokiel, Paul L.; Toonen, Robert J.

2015-01-01

Kāneʻohe Bay, which is located on the on the NE coast of Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi, represents one of the most intensively studied estuarine coral reef ecosystems in the world. Despite a long history of anthropogenic disturbance, from early settlement to post European contact, the coral reef ecosystem of Kāneʻohe Bay appears to be in better condition in comparison to other reefs around the world. The island of Moku o Loʻe (Coconut Island) in the southern region of the bay became home to the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology in 1947, where researchers have since documented the various aspects of the unique physical, chemical, and biological features of this coral reef ecosystem. The first human contact by voyaging Polynesians occurred at least 700 years ago. By A.D. 1250 Polynesians voyagers had settled inhabitable islands in the region which led to development of an intensive agricultural, fish pond and ocean resource system that supported a large human population. Anthropogenic disturbance initially involved clearing of land for agriculture, intentional or accidental introduction of alien species, modification of streams to supply water for taro culture, and construction of massive shoreline fish pond enclosures and extensive terraces in the valleys that were used for taro culture. The arrival by the first Europeans in 1778 led to further introductions of plants and animals that radically changed the landscape. Subsequent development of a plantation agricultural system led to increased human immigration, population growth and an end to traditional land and water management practices. The reefs were devastated by extensive dredge and fill operations as well as rapid growth of human population, which led to extensive urbanization of the watershed. By the 1960’s the bay was severely impacted by increased sewage discharge along with increased sedimentation due to improper grading practices and stream channelization, resulting in extensive loss of coral cover. The

Antimutagenicity of Methanolic Extracts from Anemopsis californica in Relation to Their Antioxidant Activity

PubMed Central

Del-Toro-Sánchez, Carmen Lizette; Bautista-Bautista, Nereyda; Blasco-Cabal, José Luis; Gonzalez-Ávila, Marisela; Gutiérrez-Lomelí, Melesio; Arriaga-Alba, Myriam

2014-01-01

Anemopsis californica has been used empirically to treat infectious diseases. However, there are no antimutagenic evaluation reports on this plant. The present study evaluated the antioxidant activity in relation to the mutagenic and antimutagenic activity properties of leaf (LME) and stem (SME) methanolic extracts of A. californica collected in the central Mexican state of Querétaro. Antioxidant properties and total phenols of extracts were evaluated using DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) and Folin-Ciocalteu methods, respectively. Mutagenicity was evaluated using the Ames test employing Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strains (TA98, TA100, and TA102), with and without an aroclor 1254 (S9 mixture). Antimutagenesis was performed against mutations induced on the Ames test with MNNG, 2AA, or 4NQO. SME presented the highest antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content. None of the extracts exhibited mutagenicity in the Ames test. The extracts produced a significant reduction in 2AA-induced mutations in S. typhimurium TA98. In both extracts, mutagenesis induced by 4NQO or methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) was reduced only if the exposure of strains was <10 μg/Petri dish. A. californca antioxidant properties and its capacity to reduce point mutations render it suitable to enhance medical cancer treatments. The significant effect against antimutagenic 2AA suggests that their consumption would provide protection against carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic compounds. PMID:25152760

Multivariate ordination identifies vegetation types associated with spider conservation in brassica crops

PubMed Central

Saqib, Hafiz Sohaib Ahmed; You, Minsheng

2017-01-01

Conservation biological control emphasizes natural and other non-crop vegetation as a source of natural enemies to focal crops. There is an unmet need for better methods to identify the types of vegetation that are optimal to support specific natural enemies that may colonize the crops. Here we explore the commonality of the spider assemblage—considering abundance and diversity (H)—in brassica crops with that of adjacent non-crop and non-brassica crop vegetation. We employ spatial-based multivariate ordination approaches, hierarchical clustering and spatial eigenvector analysis. The small-scale mixed cropping and high disturbance frequency of southern Chinese vegetation farming offered a setting to test the role of alternate vegetation for spider conservation. Our findings indicate that spider families differ markedly in occurrence with respect to vegetation type. Grassy field margins, non-crop vegetation, taro and sweetpotato harbour spider morphospecies and functional groups that are also present in brassica crops. In contrast, pumpkin and litchi contain spiders not found in brassicas, and so may have little benefit for conservation biological control services for brassicas. Our findings also illustrate the utility of advanced statistical approaches for identifying spatial relationships between natural enemies and the land uses most likely to offer alternative habitats for conservation biological control efforts that generates testable hypotheses for future studies. PMID:29085741

Apical Closure in Apexification: A Review and Case Report of Apexification Treatment of an Immature Permanent Tooth with Biodentine.

PubMed

Vidal, Karla; Martin, Gabriela; Lozano, Oscar; Salas, Marco; Trigueros, Jaime; Aguilar, Gabriel

2016-05-01

Materials such as calcium hydroxide paste and mineral trioxide aggregate are used in apexification treatment of immature permanent teeth, but the search for improved materials with higher characteristics of biocompatibility results in different materials. Biodentine is a tricalcium silicate cement that possesses adequate handling characteristics and acceptable mechanical and bioactivity properties. This report describes the case of a 9-year-old boy who was referred to the Department of Dental Clinic of Querétaro Autonomous University of Mexico. One month prior the patient had suffered a dental trauma of his upper left central incisor and had been treated by another dentist. The clinical diagnosis was previously initiated therapy and symptomatic apical periodontitis. The treatment was apexification with Biodentine. At follow-ups performed at 3, 6, and 18 months after treatment the tooth was asymptomatic. The cone-beam computed tomography scan at 18-month postoperative follow-up revealed continuity of periodontal ligament space, absence of periapical rarefactions, and a thin layer of calcified tissue formed apical to the Biodentine barrier. On the basis of sealing ability and biocompatibility, apexification treatment with Biodentine was applied in the present case report. The favorable clinical and radiographic outcome in this case demonstrated that Biodentine may be an efficient alternative to the conventional apexification materials. Copyright © 2016 American Association of Endodontists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review of the genus Arhaphe (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Largidae) with descriptions of nine new species from Central America.

PubMed

Stehlík, Jaroslav L; Brailovsky, Harry

2016-03-24

Nine new species of the genus Arhaphe Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850 are described: A. ferruginea sp. nov. from Mexico (Guerrero), A. flavoantennata sp. nov. from Costa Rica (Guanacaste Province), Honduras (Intibuca Department) and Nicaragua (Granada Province), A. hirsuta sp. nov. from Mexico (Oaxaca), A. kmenti sp. nov. from Mexico (Guanajuato, Michoacán), A. longula sp. nov. from Mexico (Guerrero), A. magna sp. nov. from Mexico (Colima), A. myrmicoides sp. nov. from Mexico (Guerrero, Nayarit), A. oaxacana sp. nov. from Mexico (Oaxaca), and A. pilifera sp. nov. from Mexico (Nayarit). The fifth instar larvae of A. arguta (Bliven, 1956), A. carolina Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850, A. cicindeloides Walker, 1873, A. flavoantennata sp. nov., A. mexicana Halstead, 1972, and A. morelensis Brailovsky & Marquez, 1974 are described. Additional state faunistic records of the already described species are provided: A. arguta (Bliven, 1956) (Mexico: Guanajuato, Sonora), A. capitata Halstead, 1972 (Costa Rica; Mexico: Chiapas, Estado de México, Guerrero, Michoacán, Oaxaca, Puebla), A. carolina Herrich-Schaeffer, 1850 (Mexico: Guanajuato, Tamaulipas), A. cicindeloides Walker, 1873 (Mexico: Hidalgo, Querétaro), A. deviatica Brailovsky, 1981 (Nicaragua), A. furcata Brailovsky, 1981 (Mexico: Michoacán), A. halsteadi Brailovsky, 1981 (Mexico: Oaxaca), A. mimetica Barber, 1911 (Mexico: Chihuahua), A. morelensis Brailovsky & Marquez, 1974 (Mexico: Estado de México, Guerrero, Puebla), and A. rustica Brailovsky, 1981 (Mexico: Morelos, Oaxaca).

Molecular delineation of the Agave Red Worm Comadia redtenbacheri  (Lepidoptera: Cossidae).

PubMed

CÁrdenas-Aquino, MarÍa Del Rosario; AlarcÓn-rodrÍguez, Norma Marina; Rivas-Medrano, Mario; GonzÁlez-hernÁndez, HÉctor; Vargas-hernÁndez, Mateo; SÁnchez-Arroyo, Hussein; Llanderal-cÁzares, Celina

2018-01-25

Comadia redtenbacheri (Hammerschmidt) (Agave Red Worm) is the only member of the family Cossidae that has been described as a phytophagous specialist of the plant genus Agave, which is mainly distributed in México. A new extraction protocol adapted from Stewart Via (1993) has been implemented for sequencing the COI gene from samples collected in five states of the North Central (Querétaro and Zacatecas), South Central (Estado de México) and East Central (Hidalgo and Tlaxcala) regions of México with the purpose of contributing to delineation of the species. A Maximum Likelihood (ML) tree based on these COI sequences as well as COI sequences from other Cossinae species was developed to complement the existing morphological and taxonomic approaches to delineation of this species. As expected, our Comadia samples cluster together within a monophyletic clade that includes four C. redtenbacheri sequences previously reported. This group seems to be consistent with our reconstruction, which is supported by a bootstrap value of over 99%. The closely related branches associated with the latter group include organisms known to be the plant and tree borers of the Cossinae subfamily. The COI sequences from our samples were analyzed to determine the percentage of identity among the C. redtenbacheri in a first attempt to detect differences in the sequence that matches a particular region of México.

Standardized ileal digestibility of proteins and amino acids in sesame expeller and soya bean meal in weaning piglets.

PubMed

Aguilera, A; Reis de Souza, T C; Mariscal-Landín, G; Escobar, K; Montaño, S; Bernal, M G

2015-08-01

Apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of diets containing sesame expeller (SE) and soya bean meal (SBM) was determined using 15 piglets (Genetiporc(®)), weaned at 17 ± 0.4 days with average body weight of 6.4 ± 0.7 kg (Fertilis 20 × G Performance, Genetiporc(®), PIC México, Querétaro, México). Piglets were randomly assigned to three treatments: (i) a reference diet with casein as the sole protein source; (ii) a mixed diet of casein-SE; and (iii) a mixed diet of casein-SBM. The chemical composition of SE and SBM was determined, and AID and standardized ileal digestibility (SID) of crude protein (CP) and amino acids (AAs) were determined for each protein source. SE contained greater quantities of ether extract, neutral detergent fibre, phytic acid, methionine and arginine than SBM. Lysine and proline contents and trypsin inhibitor activity were higher in SBM than in SE. The AID and SID of CP and AA (except for lysine and proline) were similar in SE and SBM. The AID of lysine and proline was higher in SBM than in SE (p < 0.05), and the SID of proline was higher in SE than in SBM (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that SE is an appropriate alternative protein source for early weaned pigs. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition © 2014 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

KEY COMPARISON: Final report on CCQM-K57: Chemical composition of clay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salas, Antonio; Ramírez, Estele

2009-01-01

After the successful completion of the pilot study, CCQM-P65 [1], the Inorganic Analysis Working Group of CCQM agreed to conduct key comparison CCQM-K57, Chemical composition of clay, in Paris, April 2006. The natural mass fraction levels of five elements—Si, Ca, Fe, Al and Mg—were measured and reported as oxides in clay. Six national metrology institutes participated in CCQM K57, and CENAM (Querétaro, Mexico) coordinated. The methods employed were isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) using the dehydration method and condensation method, gravimetric analysis, neutron activation analysis (NAA), prompt gamma activation analysis (PGAA) and x-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) with the reconstitution method and external calibration. This final report presents the capability of the participant institutes, based on the KCRV, which was approved at the IAWG spring meeting in 2008, and the equivalence statements regarding the KCRV, approved at its autumn meeting. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCQM, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).

[Metabolic syndrome in adults from 20 to 40 years old in a rural Mexican community].

PubMed

Echavarría-Pinto, Mauro; Hernández-Lomelí, Adrián; Alcocer-Gamba, Marco Antonio; Morales-Flores, Héctor; Vázquez-Mellado, Alberto

2006-01-01

Metabolic syndrome is the main health problem in Mexico. Its two principal complications (ischemic cardiopathy and type-2 diabetes) are the two main causes of death in Mexico since 2000. To describe the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in adults from 20 to 40 years old in a Mexican rural community (Senegal de Palomas, San Juan del Río, Querétaro) using the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP III) definition. A descriptive study with a random sample was carried out. We present a univariate analysis with a 95% confidence interval. 73 cases were studied. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 45.2% slightly higher in men (48.4%) than in women (42.8%). The prevalence of hypertension was 27.3%. The prevalence of obesity was 26.1% using the definition of the WHO and this prevalence rises up to 49.4% using the definition of the Mexican Official Norm. 90.5% of women and 93.5% of men had low HDLc. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adults from 20 to 40 years old in this Mexican rural community is much higher than the national mean for the same age cohort. The results show the necessity to increase the research of our rural communities in order to identify the possible causes to this problem and to create therapeutic programs for patients with metabolic syndrome.

Metal contamination of soils and crops affected by the Chenzhou lead/zinc mine spill (Hunan, China).

PubMed

Liu, Hongyu; Probst, Anne; Liao, Bohan

2005-03-01

In 1985, the collapse of the tailing dam in Chenzhou lead/zinc mine (Hunan, southern China) led to the spread of mining waste spills on the farmland along the Dong River. After the accident, an urgent soil cleaning up was carried out in some places. Seventeen years later, cereal (rice, maize, and sorghum), pulses (soybean, Adzuki bean, mung bean and peanut), vegetables (ipomoea, capsicum, taro and string bean) and the rooted soils were sampled at four sites: (1) the mining area (SZY), (2) the area still covered with the mining tailing spills (GYB), (3) the cleaned area from mining tailing spills (JTC), and (4) a background site (REF). Metal concentrations in the crops and soils were analyzed to evaluate the long-term effects of the spilled waste on the soil and the potential human exposure through food chains. The results showed that the physical-chemical properties of the soils obviously changed due to the different farming styles used by each individual farmer. Leaching effects and plant extraction of metals from some soils were quite weak. Certain soils were still heavily polluted with As, Cd, Zn, Pb and Cu. The contamination levels were in the order of GYB>SZY>JTC showing that the clean-up treatment was effective. The maximum allowable concentration (MAC) levels for Chinese agricultural soils were still highly exceeded, particularly for As and Cd (followed by Zn, Pb and Cu), with mean concentrations of 709 and 7.6 mg kg(-1), respectively. These concentrations exceed the MAC levels by 24 times for As and 13 times for Cd at GYB. Generally, the edible leaves or stems of crops were more heavily contaminated than seeds or fruits. Ipomoea was the most severely contaminated crop. The concentrations of Cd and Pb were 3.30 and 76.9 mg kg(-1) in ipomoea leaves at GYB, which exceeded the maximum permit levels (0.5 mg kg(-1) for Cd and 9 mg kg(-1) for Pb) by 6.6 and 8.5 times, respectively. Taro (+skin) could accumulate high concentrations of Zn and Cd in the edible stem

The Chloroplast Genome of Symplocarpus renifolius: A Comparison of Chloroplast Genome Structure in Araceae.

PubMed

Choi, Kyoung Su; Park, Kyu Tae; Park, SeonJoo

2017-11-16

Symplocarpus renifolius is a member of Araceae family that is extraordinarily diverse in appearance. Previous studies on chloroplast genomes in Araceae were focused on duckweeds (Lemnoideae) and root crops ( Colocasia , commonly known as taro). Here, we determined the chloroplast genome of Symplocarpus renifolius and compared the factors, such as genes and inverted repeat (IR) junctions and performed phylogenetic analysis using other Araceae species. The chloroplast genome of S. renifolius is 158,521 bp and includes 113 genes. A comparison among the Araceae chloroplast genomes showed that infA in Lemna , Spirodela , Wolffiella , Wolffia , Dieffenbachia and Colocasia has been lost or has become a pseudogene and has only been retained in Symplocarpus . In the Araceae chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), psbZ is retained. However, psbZ duplication occurred in Wolffia species and tandem repeats were noted around the duplication regions. A comparison of the IR junction in Araceae species revealed the presence of ycf1 and rps15 in the small single copy region, whereas duckweed species contained ycf1 and rps15 in the IR region. The phylogenetic analyses of the chloroplast genomes revealed that Symplocarpus are a basal group and are sister to the other Araceae species. Consequently, infA deletion or pseudogene events in Araceae occurred after the divergence of Symplocarpus and aquatic plants (duckweeds) in Araceae and duplication events of rps15 and ycf1 occurred in the IR region.

Localization, Concentration, and Transmission Efficiency of Banana bunchy top virus in Four Asexual Lineages of Pentalonia aphids

PubMed Central

Watanabe, Shizu; Greenwell, April M.; Bressan, Alberto

2013-01-01

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) is the most destructive pathogenic virus of banana plants worldwide. The virus is transmitted in a circulative non-propagative manner by the banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel. In this work, we examined the localization, accumulation, and transmission efficiency of BBTV in four laboratory-established lineages of Pentalonia aphids derived from four different host plants: taro (Colocasia esculenta), heliconia (Heliconia spp.), red ginger (Alpinia purpurata), and banana (Musa sp.). Mitochondrial sequencing identified three and one lineages as Pentalonia caladii van der Goot, a recently proposed species, and P. nigronervosa, respectively. Microsatellite analysis separated the aphid lineages into four distinct genotypes. The transmission of BBTV was tested using leaf disk and whole-plant assays, both of which showed that all four lineages are competent vectors of BBTV, although the P. caladii from heliconia transmitted BBTV to the leaf disks at a significantly lower rate than did P. nigronervosa. The concentration of BBTV in dissected guts, haemolymph, and salivary glands was quantified by real-time PCR. The BBTV titer reached similar concentrations in the guts, haemolymph, and salivary glands of aphids from all four lineages tested. Furthermore, immunofluorescence assays showed that BBTV antigens localized to the anterior midguts and the principal salivary glands, demonstrating a similar pattern of translocations across the four lineages. The results reported in this study showed for the first time that P. caladii is a competent vector of BBTV. PMID:23435241

Molecular spectroscopic and thermodynamic studies on the interaction of anti-platelet drug ticlopidine with calf thymus DNA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Afrin, Shumaila; Rahman, Yusra; Sarwar, Tarique; Husain, Mohammed Amir; Ali, Abad; Shamsuzzaman; Tabish, Mohammad

2017-11-01

Ticlopidine is an anti-platelet drug which belongs to the thienopyridine structural family and exerts its effect by functioning as an ADP receptor inhibitor. Ticlopidine inhibits the expression of TarO gene in S. aureus and may provide protection against MRSA. Groove binding agents are known to disrupt the transcription factor DNA complex and consequently inhibit gene expression. Understanding the mechanism of interaction of ticlopidine with DNA can prove useful in the development of a rational drug designing system. At present, there is no such study on the interaction of anti-platelet drugs with nucleic acids. A series of biophysical experiments were performed to ascertain the binding mode between ticlopidine and calf thymus DNA. UV-visible and fluorescence spectroscopic experiments confirmed the formation of a complex between ticlopidine and calf thymus DNA. Moreover, the values of binding constant were found to be in the range of 103 M- 1, which is indicative of groove binding between ticlopidine and calf thymus DNA. These results were further confirmed by studying the effect of denaturation on double stranded DNA, iodide quenching, viscometric studies, thermal melting profile as well as CD spectral analysis. The thermodynamic profile of the interaction was also determined using isothermal titration calorimetric studies. The reaction was found to be endothermic and the parameters obtained were found to be consistent with those of known groove binders. In silico molecular docking studies further corroborated well with the experimental results.

The Chloroplast Genome of Symplocarpus renifolius: A Comparison of Chloroplast Genome Structure in Araceae

PubMed Central

Park, Kyu Tae

2017-01-01

Symplocarpus renifolius is a member of Araceae family that is extraordinarily diverse in appearance. Previous studies on chloroplast genomes in Araceae were focused on duckweeds (Lemnoideae) and root crops (Colocasia, commonly known as taro). Here, we determined the chloroplast genome of Symplocarpus renifolius and compared the factors, such as genes and inverted repeat (IR) junctions and performed phylogenetic analysis using other Araceae species. The chloroplast genome of S. renifolius is 158,521 bp and includes 113 genes. A comparison among the Araceae chloroplast genomes showed that infA in Lemna, Spirodela, Wolffiella, Wolffia, Dieffenbachia and Colocasia has been lost or has become a pseudogene and has only been retained in Symplocarpus. In the Araceae chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), psbZ is retained. However, psbZ duplication occurred in Wolffia species and tandem repeats were noted around the duplication regions. A comparison of the IR junction in Araceae species revealed the presence of ycf1 and rps15 in the small single copy region, whereas duckweed species contained ycf1 and rps15 in the IR region. The phylogenetic analyses of the chloroplast genomes revealed that Symplocarpus are a basal group and are sister to the other Araceae species. Consequently, infA deletion or pseudogene events in Araceae occurred after the divergence of Symplocarpus and aquatic plants (duckweeds) in Araceae and duplication events of rps15 and ycf1 occurred in the IR region. PMID:29144427

Localization, concentration, and transmission efficiency of Banana bunchy top virus in four asexual lineages of Pentalonia aphids.

PubMed

Watanabe, Shizu; Greenwell, April M; Bressan, Alberto

2013-02-22

Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV) is the most destructive pathogenic virus of banana plants worldwide. The virus is transmitted in a circulative non-propagative manner by the banana aphid, Pentalonia nigronervosa Coquerel. In this work, we examined the localization, accumulation, and transmission efficiency of BBTV in four laboratory-established lineages of Pentalonia aphids derived from four different host plants: taro (Colocasia esculenta), heliconia (Heliconia spp.), red ginger (Alpinia purpurata), and banana (Musa sp.). Mitochondrial sequencing identified three and one lineages as Pentalonia caladii van der Goot, a recently proposed species, and P. nigronervosa, respectively. Microsatellite analysis separated the aphid lineages into four distinct genotypes. The transmission of BBTV was tested using leaf disk and whole-plant assays, both of which showed that all four lineages are competent vectors of BBTV, although the P. caladii from heliconia transmitted BBTV to the leaf disks at a significantly lower rate than did P. nigronervosa. The concentration of BBTV in dissected guts, haemolymph, and salivary glands was quantified by real-time PCR. The BBTV titer reached similar concentrations in the guts, haemolymph, and salivary glands of aphids from all four lineages tested. Furthermore, immunofluorescence assays showed that BBTV antigens localized to the anterior midguts and the principal salivary glands, demonstrating a similar pattern of translocations across the four lineages. The results reported in this study showed for the first time that P. caladii is a competent vector of BBTV.

Antibiotic Combinations That Enable One-Step, Targeted Mutagenesis of Chromosomal Genes.

PubMed

Lee, Wonsik; Do, Truc; Zhang, Ge; Kahne, Daniel; Meredith, Timothy C; Walker, Suzanne

2018-06-08

Targeted modification of bacterial chromosomes is necessary to understand new drug targets, investigate virulence factors, elucidate cell physiology, and validate results of -omics-based approaches. For some bacteria, reverse genetics remains a major bottleneck to progress in research. Here, we describe a compound-centric strategy that combines new negative selection markers with known positive selection markers to achieve simple, efficient one-step genome engineering of bacterial chromosomes. The method was inspired by the observation that certain nonessential metabolic pathways contain essential late steps, suggesting that antibiotics targeting a late step can be used to select for the absence of genes that control flux into the pathway. Guided by this hypothesis, we have identified antibiotic/counterselectable markers to accelerate reverse engineering of two increasingly antibiotic-resistant pathogens, Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii. For S. aureus, we used wall teichoic acid biosynthesis inhibitors to select for the absence of tarO and for A. baumannii, we used colistin to select for the absence of lpxC. We have obtained desired gene deletions, gene fusions, and promoter swaps in a single plating step with perfect efficiency. Our method can also be adapted to generate markerless deletions of genes using FLP recombinase. The tools described here will accelerate research on two important pathogens, and the concept we outline can be readily adapted to any organism for which a suitable target pathway can be identified.

Integrated Hydrological Modeling for Water Resources Management of Heeia Coastal Wetland in Hawaii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghazal, Kariem A.

The integrated hydrological models are an important tools that can be used to assess the water resources availability and sustainability for food security and ecological health of the coastal regions. In addition, such models are useful in assessing the current and future water budget under different conditions of climate and land use changes. This study addresses the Heeia Wetlands Restoration whereby different scenarios were developed to assess the effects of land cover change (LU), climate change (CL), and sea level rise (SLR) on the water balance components (WBCs), fresh water submarine groundwater discharge (FSGD), seawater intrusion, dissolved silicate (DSi) fluxes, and heat transport within the Heeia Coastal Wetland. The watershed (SWAT) model, the groundwater flow (MODFLOW) model, and the density dependent groundwater flow (SEAWAT) model were utilized in this integrated approach. The SWAT model was used to assess the impact of CL and LU on the WBCs. The LU mainly focused on the conversion of a fallow wetland covered by california grass (invasive plant) to taro field (native plant). The groundwater recharge of the SWAT model output was used as input for both the steady state and transient-MODFLOW model to study the interaction between surface water and groundwater and its effect on the FSGD within the Watershed. The SEAWAT model was used to study the seawater intrusion, DSi fluxes and cold groundwater transport under several CL, LU, and SLR scenarios. The results indicated that the baseflow was the main components of the Heeia streamflow, especially during dry season. The annual recharge, surface runoff, lateral flow and ET comprised about 34%, 6%, 15%, and 45% of the annual rainfall, respectively. The WBCs were more impacted in the late of 2080s compared to the 2050s period. To understand the comprehensive relationships between coastal hydrological processes and ecosystems, the FSGD was estimated under different scenarios of LU, CL, and SLR. The current

Suppression of cell wall-related genes associated with stunting of Oryza glaberrima infected with Rice tungro spherical virus

PubMed Central

Budot, Bernard O.; Encabo, Jaymee R.; Ambita, Israel Dave V.; Atienza-Grande, Genelou A.; Satoh, Kouji; Kondoh, Hiroaki; Ulat, Victor J.; Mauleon, Ramil; Kikuchi, Shoshi; Choi, Il-Ryong

2014-01-01

Rice tungro disease is a complex disease caused by the interaction between Rice tungro bacilliform virus and Rice tungro spherical virus (RTSV). RTSV alone does not cause recognizable symptoms in most Asian rice (Oryza sativa) plants, whereas some African rice (O. glaberrima) plants were found to become stunted by RTSV. Stunting of rice plants by virus infections usually accompanies the suppression of various cell wall-related genes. The expression of cell wall-related genes was examined in O. glaberrima and O. sativa infected with RTSV to see the relationship between the severity of stunting and the suppression of cell wall-related genes by RTSV. The heights of four accessions of O. glaberrima were found to decline by 14–34% at 28 days post-inoculation (dpi) with RTSV, whereas the height reduction of O. sativa plants by RTSV was not significant. RTSV accumulated more in O. glaberrima plants than in O. sativa plants, but the level of RTSV accumulation was not correlated with the degree of height reduction among the four accessions of O. glaberrima. Examination for expression of genes for cellulose synthase A5 (CESA5) and A6 (CESA6), cellulose synthase-like A9 (CSLA9) and C7, and α-expansin 1 (expansin 1) and 15 precursors in O. glaberrima and O. sativa plants between 7 and 28 dpi with RTSV showed that the genes such as those for CESA5, CESA6, CSLA9, and expansin 1were more significantly suppressed in stunted plants of O. glaberrima at 14 dpi with RTSV than in O. sativa, suggesting that stunting of O. glaberrima might be associated with these cell wall-related genes suppressed by RTSV. Examination for expression of these genes in O. sativa plants infected with other rice viruses in previous studies indicated that the suppression of the expansin 1 gene is likely to be a signature response commonly associated with virus-induced stunting of Oryza species. These results suggest that stunting of O. glaberrima by RTSV infection might be associated with the suppression

Chemical Genetic Analysis and Functional Characterization of Staphylococcal Wall Teichoic Acid 2-Epimerases Reveals Unconventional Antibiotic Drug Targets.

PubMed

Mann, Paul A; Müller, Anna; Wolff, Kerstin A; Fischmann, Thierry; Wang, Hao; Reed, Patricia; Hou, Yan; Li, Wenjin; Müller, Christa E; Xiao, Jianying; Murgolo, Nicholas; Sher, Xinwei; Mayhood, Todd; Sheth, Payal R; Mirza, Asra; Labroli, Marc; Xiao, Li; McCoy, Mark; Gill, Charles J; Pinho, Mariana G; Schneider, Tanja; Roemer, Terry

2016-05-01

Here we describe a chemical biology strategy performed in Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis to identify MnaA, a 2-epimerase that we demonstrate interconverts UDP-GlcNAc and UDP-ManNAc to modulate substrate levels of TarO and TarA wall teichoic acid (WTA) biosynthesis enzymes. Genetic inactivation of mnaA results in complete loss of WTA and dramatic in vitro β-lactam hypersensitivity in methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and S. epidermidis (MRSE). Likewise, the β-lactam antibiotic imipenem exhibits restored bactericidal activity against mnaA mutants in vitro and concomitant efficacy against 2-epimerase defective strains in a mouse thigh model of MRSA and MRSE infection. Interestingly, whereas MnaA serves as the sole 2-epimerase required for WTA biosynthesis in S. epidermidis, MnaA and Cap5P provide compensatory WTA functional roles in S. aureus. We also demonstrate that MnaA and other enzymes of WTA biosynthesis are required for biofilm formation in MRSA and MRSE. We further determine the 1.9Å crystal structure of S. aureus MnaA and identify critical residues for enzymatic dimerization, stability, and substrate binding. Finally, the natural product antibiotic tunicamycin is shown to physically bind MnaA and Cap5P and inhibit 2-epimerase activity, demonstrating that it inhibits a previously unanticipated step in WTA biosynthesis. In summary, MnaA serves as a new Staphylococcal antibiotic target with cognate inhibitors predicted to possess dual therapeutic benefit: as combination agents to restore β-lactam efficacy against MRSA and MRSE and as non-bioactive prophylactic agents to prevent Staphylococcal biofilm formation.

Sources of land-derived runoff to a coral reef-fringed embayment identified using geochemical tracers in nearshore sediment traps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Takesue, Renee K.; Bothner, Michael H.; Reynolds, Richard L.

2009-01-01

Geochemical tracers, including Ba, Co, Th, 7Be, 137Cs and 210Pb, and magnetic properties were used to characterize terrestrial runoff collected in nearshore time-series sediment traps in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, during flood and dry conditions in summer 2006, and to fingerprint possible runoff sources in the lower watershed. In combination, the tracers indicate that runoff during a flood in August could have come from cultivated taro fields bordering the lower reach of the river. Land-based runoff associated with summer floods may have a greater impact on coral reef communities in Hanalei Bay than in winter because sediment persists for several months. During dry periods, sediment carried by the Hanalei River appears to have been mobilized primarily by undercutting of low 7Be, low 137Cs riverbanks composed of soil weathered from tholeiitic basalt with low Ba and Co concentrations. Following a moderate rainfall event in September, high 7Be sediment carried by the Hanalei River was probably mobilized by overland flow in the upper watershed. Ba-desorption in low-salinity coastal water limited its use to a qualitative runoff tracer in nearshore sediment. 210Pb had limited usefulness as a terrestrial tracer in the nearshore due to a large dissolved oceanic source and scavenging onto resuspended bottom sediment. 210Pb-scavenging does, however, illustrate the role resuspension could play in the accumulation of particle-reactive contaminants in nearshore sediment. Co and 137Cs were not affected by desorption or geochemical scavenging and showed the greatest potential as quantitative sediment provenance indicators in material collected in nearshore sediment traps.

Studies on a Factor in Sweet Potato Root Which Agglutinates Spores of Ceratocystis fimbriata, Black Rot Fungus 1

PubMed Central

Kojime, Mineo; Kawakita, Kazuhito; Uritani, Ikuzo

1982-01-01

A factor which agglutinated the spores of Ceratocystis fimbriata in the presence of Ca2+ was purified from sweet potato (Ipomea batatas Lam cv. Norin[1]) root. Element composition of the purified factor was as follows; analysis found: C (29.8%), H (3.97%), O (65.34%), N (0.81%): calculated for C43H69O70N1: C (30.02%), H (4.01%), O (65.15%), N (0.81%). The factor was mainly composed of galacturonic acid (53% of dry weight) and contained arabinose, fucose, and unidentified component as minor components. The factor also agglutinated A-, B-, AB-, and O types of human erythrocytes to almost the same degree in the presence of Ca2+. The differential spore-agglutinating activity of the factor depended on the pH of the assay medium; it agglutinated similarly the germinated spores of sweet potato and coffee strains at pH 7.5 and 5.5, whereas it displayed a distinct differential agglutinating activity at pH 6.5. The factor was assayed for spore-agglutinating activity at pH 6.5, using the germinated and ungerminated spores of seven strains of C. fimbriata; sweet potato, coffee, prune, cacao, oak, taro, and almond strains. The factor agglutinated ungerminated spores of all seven strains similarly, although small differences were observed among strains. On the other hand, a clear differential agglutination was observed among the germinated spores of various strains; sweet potato and almond strains were highly insensitive in comparison with other strains. The growth of the agglutinated spores of C. fimbriata was inhibited. These results are discussed in relation to host-parasite specificity. Images PMID:16662232

Dietary patterns are associated with metabolic syndrome in adult Samoans.

PubMed

DiBello, Julia R; McGarvey, Stephen T; Kraft, Peter; Goldberg, Robert; Campos, Hannia; Quested, Christine; Laumoli, Tuiasina Salamo; Baylin, Ana

2009-10-01

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome has reached epidemic levels in the Samoan Islands. In this cross-sectional study conducted in 2002-2003, dietary patterns were described among American Samoan (n = 723) and Samoan (n = 785) adults (> or =18 y) to identify neo-traditional and modern eating patterns and to relate these patterns to the presence of metabolic syndrome using Adult Treatment Panel III criteria. The neo-traditional dietary pattern, similar across both polities, was characterized by high intake of local foods, including crab/lobster, coconut products, and taro, and low intake of processed foods, including potato chips and soda. The modern pattern, also similar across both polities, was characterized by high intake of processed foods such as rice, potato chips, cake, and pancakes and low intake of local foods. The neo-traditional dietary pattern was associated with significantly higher serum HDL-cholesterol in American Samoa (P-trend = 0.05) and a decrease in abdominal circumference in American Samoa and Samoa (P-trend = 0.004 and 0.01, respectively). An inverse association was found with metabolic syndrome, although it did not reach significance (P = 0.23 in American Samoa; P = 0.13 in Samoa). The modern pattern was significantly positively associated with metabolic syndrome in Samoa (prevalence ratio = 1.21 for the fifth compared with first quintile; 95% CI: 0.93.1.57; P-trend = 0.05) and with increased serum triglyceride levels in both polities (P < 0.05). Reduced intake of processed foods high in refined grains and adherence to a neo-traditional eating pattern characterized by plant-based fiber, seafood, and coconut products may help to prevent growth in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the Samoan islands.

Formulation and characterization of functional foods based on fruit and vegetable residue flour.

PubMed

Ferreira, Mariana S L; Santos, Mônica C P; Moro, Thaísa M A; Basto, Gabriela J; Andrade, Roberta M S; Gonçalves, Édira C B A

2015-02-01

Fruits and vegetables are extensively processed and the residues are often discarded. However, due to their rich composition, they could be used to minimize food waste. This study aimed to develop food products based on the solid residue generated from the manufacture of an isotonic beverage. This beverage was produced based on integral exploitation of several fruits and vegetables: orange, passion fruit, watermelon, lettuce, courgette, carrot, spinach, mint, taro, cucumber and rocket. The remaining residue was processed into flour and its functional properties were evaluated. The fruit and vegetable residue (FVR) flour was incorporated with different levels (20 to 35 %) into biscuits and cereal bars. The proximate composition, microbiological stability until 90 days and consumer acceptance were analyzed. The FVR flour presented a higher water holding capacity than oil holding capacity, respectively 7.43 and 1.91 g g(-1) of flour, probably associated with its high levels of carbohydrates (53 %) and fibres (21.5 %). Biscuits enriched with 35 % of FVR flour presented significantly higher fibre, ranging from 57 % to 118 % and mineral contents, from 25 % to 37 % than when only 20 % was added. Cereal bars presented about 75 % of fibres and variable mineral contents between 14 % and 37 %. The incorporation of FVR did not change the fat content. The microbiological examinations are within acceptable limits according to international regulation. The incorporation of FVR flour did not impair consumer acceptance, the sensory attributes averaged around 6. The chemical, microbiological and sensorial results of the designed products attested for an alternative towards applying and reducing agro-industrial wastes.

Physicochemical, morphological and rheological properties of canned bean pastes "negro Queretaro" variety (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

PubMed

Martínez-Preciado, A H; Estrada-Girón, Y; González-Álvarez, A; Fernández, V V A; Macías, E R; Soltero, J F A

2014-09-01

Proximate, thermal, morphological and rheological properties of canned "negro Querétaro" bean pastes, as a function of fat content (0, 2 and 3 %) and temperature (60, 70 and 85 °C), were evaluated. Raw and precooked bean pastes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Well-defined starch granules in the raw bean pastes were observed, whereas a gelatinized starch paste was observed for the canned bean pastes. The DSC analysis showed that the raw bean pastes had lower onset peak temperatures (79 °C, 79.1 °C) and gelatinization enthalpy (1.940 J/g), compared to that precooked bean pastes (70.4 °C, 75.7 °C and 1.314 J/g, respectively) thermal characteristics. Moreover, the dynamic rheological results showed a gel-like behavior for the canned bean pastes, where the storage modulus (G') was frequency independent and was higher than the loss modulus (G″). The non-linear rheological results exhibited a shear-thinning flow behavior, where the steady shear-viscosity was temperature and fat content dependent. For canned bean pastes, the shear-viscosity data followed a power law equation, where the power law index (n) decreased when the temperature and the fat content increased. The temperature effect on the shear-viscosity was described by an Arrhenius equation, where the activation energy (Ea) was in the range from 19.04 to 36.81 KJ/mol. This rheological behavior was caused by gelatinization of the starch during the cooking and sterilization processes, where starch-lipids and starch-proteins complex were formed.

Children with moderate-high infection with Entamoeba coli have higher percentage of body and abdominal fat than non-infected children.

PubMed

Zavala, G A; García, O P; Campos-Ponce, M; Ronquillo, D; Caamaño, M C; Doak, C M; Rosado, J L

2016-12-01

Intestinal parasites, virus and bacterial infections are positively associated with obesity and adiposity in vitro and in animal models, but conclusive evidence of this relationship in humans is lacking. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine differences in adiposity between infected and non-infected children, with a high prevalence of intestinal parasitic infection and obesity. A total of 296 school-aged children (8.0 ± 1.5 years) from a rural area in Querétaro, Mexico, participated in this study. Anthropometry (weight, height and waist circumference) and body fat (DXA) were measured in all children. A fresh stool sample was collected from each child and analysed for parasites. Questionnaires related to socioeconomic status and clinical history were completed by caretakers. Approximately 11% of the children were obese, and 19% were overweight. The overall prevalence of infection was 61%. Ascaris lumbricoides was the most prevalent soil transmitted helminth (16%) followed by hookworm. Entamoeba coli was the predominant protozoa (20%) followed by Endolimax nana, Balantidium coli, Entamoeba histolytica/dispar, Iodamoeba bütschlii and Giardia lamblia. Children with moderate-heavy infection of E. coli had significantly higher waist circumference, waist-to-height ratio, body and abdominal fat than children not infected or with light-intensity infection (p < 0.05). These findings raise the possibility that a moderate or heavy infection with E. coli may contribute to fat deposition and thereby have long-term consequences on human health. Further studies are needed to better understand if E. coli contributes directly to fat deposition and possible mechanisms. © 2015 World Obesity Federation.

Survival or productivity? Global synthesis of root and tuber production during drought

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daryanto, S.; Wang, L.; Jacinthe, P. A.

2016-12-01

According to FAO, there are six major root and tuber crops: potato, cassava, sweet potato, yam, taro, and yautia. Some root and tuber crops (e.g., sweet potato and cassava) are considered to be `drought-resistant', although quantitative evidence that support the premise was still lacking. Greater uncertainties exist on how drought effects co-vary with: 1) soil texture, 2) agro-ecological region, and 3) drought timing. To address these uncertainties, we collected literature data between 1980 and 2015 that reported monoculture root and tuber yield responses to drought under field conditions, and analyzed this large data set using meta-analysis techniques. Our results showed that the amount of water reduction was positively related with yield reduction, but the extent of the impact varied with root or tuber species and the phenological phase during which drought occurred. In contrast to common assumptions regarding drought resistance of certain root and tuber crops, we found that yield reduction was similar between potato and species thought to be `drought-resistant' such as cassava and sweet potato. Here we suggest that drought-resistance in cassava and sweet potato could be more related to survival rather than yield. All roots or tubers crops, however, experienced greater yield reduction when drought occurred during the tuberization period compared to during their vegetative phase. The effect of soil texture as well as region (and related climatic factors) on yield reduction and crop sensitivity were less obvious. Our study provides useful information that could inform agricultural planning, and influence the direction of research for improving the productivity and the resilience of these under-utilized crops in the drought-prone regions of the world.

An evaluation of a nutrition intervention in Kapinga Village on Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.

PubMed

Hanson, Michelle; Englberger, Lois; Duncan, Burris; Taren, Douglas; Mateak, Henrich; Johnson, Emihner

2011-03-01

The people of Kapinga Village are suffering from chronic diseases as a result of their lifestyles and eating habits, similar to many Pohnpeians. Kapinga Village is an urban area on the island of Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, settled by people from Kapingamarangi, a remote atoll. The villagers have limited access to traditional staple foods, including breadfruit, banana, and taro, fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods. The Island Food Community of Pohnpei (IFCP) carried out several nutrition interventions in Kapinga Village to prevent disease, including promotion of physical activity through growing local food, a nutritious diet of local foods, cooking classes, container gardening, and charcoal oven workshops. This study evaluated the effect of those interventions on dietary intake. A 7-day Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) was administered in June-July, 2010 to participants from 68 households and data were compared to 2009 baseline data. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed to identify salient themes that were associated with changes in dietary intake. The FFQ data indicated that there was an increase in consumption of local fruits and vegetables compared with the baseline. Qualitative data revealed that participants viewed the interventions positively. The data also revealed that some of the new foods and drinks consumed were those already available in the village, but for which their uses had not previously been known (such as banana flower and hibiscus tea). Such improvements are likely to be sustainable. Recommendations are for more education, in the Kapingan language if possible, and future research to determine what culturally appropriate interventions are still needed to improve nutrition in Kapinga Village.

[Comparison of family functioning profile in adolescents with and without drug-dependency in a high school].

PubMed

Cruz-Salmerón, Víctor Hugo; Martínez-Martínez, Martha Leticia; Garibay-López, Leticia; Camacho-Calderón, Nicolás

2011-02-01

To compare the family functioning profile (FFP) in adolescents addicted to drugs and those not addicted to drugs. Cross-sectional study comparative. A high school in Querétaro State, Mexico. Study of 63 adolescents with and without addiction, of both sexes between the ages of 13 and 19, enrolled in high school; two groups formed, one not addicted to drugs (systematic probabilistic sampling was carried out); and compared with drug addicts (database). FFP(Alpha Cronbach 91). Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Adolescents with drug addiction (n=20), average age 17.5±0.4 (range 16-19), and group of non-addicts (n=43), average age 16.9±0.1 (range 15-18) and P=0.000. All the adolescents lived in an urban area with a predominantly simple nuclear modern, working family type. Half (50%) of addicted adolescents came from broken families P=0.002. The dispersion phase was a protective factor in preventing drug addiction in adolescents (P=0.003 OR 0.6 95% Cl;1.8-21.0). Significant statistical differences were observed in authority (OR=29.7, 95% Cl; 5.8-150.5), supervision (OR 10.3, 95% Cl; 2.8-37.2) and support (OR 0.04, 95% Cl; 5.5-109.8). The overall family dysfunctionality, (P=0.000, OR 1.8, 95% Cl; 1.3-2.3). Dysfunctional families are a risk factor for drug addiction in adolescents, when there is insufficient authority and supervision within the family. On the other hand, family support, as well as the dispersion phase, are protective factors. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Whole genome sequence phylogenetic analysis of four Mexican rabies viruses isolated from cattle.

PubMed

Bárcenas-Reyes, I; Loza-Rubio, E; Cantó-Alarcón, G J; Luna-Cozar, J; Enríquez-Vázquez, A; Barrón-Rodríguez, R J; Milián-Suazo, F

2017-08-01

Phylogenetic analysis of the rabies virus in molecular epidemiology has been traditionally performed on partial sequences of the genome, such as the N, G, and P genes; however, that approach raises concerns about the discriminatory power compared to whole genome sequencing. In this study we characterized four strains of the rabies virus isolated from cattle in Querétaro, Mexico by comparing the whole genome sequence to that of strains from the American, European and Asian continents. Four cattle brain samples positive to rabies and characterized as AgV11, genotype 1, were used in the study. A cDNA sequence was generated by reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) using oligo dT. cDNA samples were sequenced in an Illumina NextSeq 500 platform. The phylogenetic analysis was performed with MEGA 6.0. Minimum evolution phylogenetic trees were constructed with the Neighbor-Joining method and bootstrapped with 1000 replicates. Three large and seven small clusters were formed with the 26 sequences used. The largest cluster grouped strains from different species in South America: Brazil, and the French Guyana. The second cluster grouped five strains from Mexico. A Mexican strain reported in a different study was highly related to our four strains, suggesting common source of infection. The phylogenetic analysis shows that the type of host is different for the different regions in the American Continent; rabies is more related to bats. It was concluded that the rabies virus in central Mexico is genetically stable and that it is transmitted by the vampire bat Desmodus rotundus. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Chemical Genetic Analysis and Functional Characterization of Staphylococcal Wall Teichoic Acid 2-Epimerases Reveals Unconventional Antibiotic Drug Targets

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mann, Paul A.; Müller, Anna; Wolff, Kerstin A.

Here we describe a chemical biology strategy performed in Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis to identify MnaA, a 2-epimerase that we demonstrate interconverts UDP-GlcNAc and UDP-ManNAc to modulate substrate levels of TarO and TarA wall teichoic acid (WTA) biosynthesis enzymes. Genetic inactivation of mnaA results in complete loss of WTA and dramatic in vitro β-lactam hypersensitivity in methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and S. epidermidis (MRSE). Likewise, the β-lactam antibiotic imipenem exhibits restored bactericidal activity against mnaA mutants in vitro and concomitant efficacy against 2-epimerase defective strains in a mouse thigh model of MRSA and MRSE infection. Interestingly, whereas MnaA servesmore » as the sole 2-epimerase required for WTA biosynthesis in S. epidermidis, MnaA and Cap5P provide compensatory WTA functional roles in S. aureus. We also demonstrate that MnaA and other enzymes of WTA biosynthesis are required for biofilm formation in MRSA and MRSE. We further determine the 1.9Å crystal structure of S. aureus MnaA and identify critical residues for enzymatic dimerization, stability, and substrate binding. Finally, the natural product antibiotic tunicamycin is shown to physically bind MnaA and Cap5P and inhibit 2-epimerase activity, demonstrating that it inhibits a previously unanticipated step in WTA biosynthesis. In summary, MnaA serves as a new Staphylococcal antibiotic target with cognate inhibitors predicted to possess dual therapeutic benefit: as combination agents to restore β-lactam efficacy against MRSA and MRSE and as non-bioactive prophylactic agents to prevent Staphylococcal biofilm formation.« less

Nutrient characterisation and bioenergy potential of common Nigerian food wastes.

PubMed

Longjan, Gurumwal George; Dehouche, Zahir

2018-05-01

Nigeria is the world's largest producer of yam, cassava, cocoyam/taro, beans/cowpea, egusi/melon seeds and among the largest producers of groundnut/peanut, plantain, corn/maize and ugwu/pumpkin leaves. These food crops generate unavoidable food wastes that can contribute to environmental degradation through unsanctioned waste disposal methods. Such food wastes can be utilised as feedstock for the anaerobic digestion (AD) process to produce renewable energy. In order to determine the suitability of the food wastes as biofuel feedstock, they were experimentally analysed. Their waste content was determined, characterised and used to evaluate their bio-methane potential. The tests were performed using standard proximate analytical methods while the bioenergy potential of the samples was determined using the Baserga model. Results indicated a specific waste index range of 0.2-1.5, with corn having the highest waste proportion. The proximate analysis results of the wastes were within the range of common AD feedstocks such as energy crops and plant by-products. The bio-methane potentials of the samples varied widely with results ranging from 35-460 m 3 tonne -1 on fresh weight and (5.4-6.2) × 10 5 m 3 kg -1 on volatile solid basis. The methane potential varied between 51% and 58% of produced biogas. The energy potential of the food wastes was 31 TWh yr -1 which can make a substantial contribution to the bioenergy production of the country and meet up to the energy demand of 4.7 × 10 7 Nigerian households. Further studies would be required to determine the actual biogas yields of the food wastes.

Associations with E-cigarette use among Asian American and Pacific Islander young adults in California.

PubMed

Maglalang, Dale Dagar; Brown-Johnson, Cati; Prochaska, Judith J

2016-12-01

With attention to the rapidly growing market of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS/e-cigarettes) and the fastest growing US ethnic minority group, the current study explored associations between awareness, perceived risks, and use of ENDS among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) young adults. AAPI young adults (ages 18-25) in California were recruited via social media, college classes, listservs for AAPI-serving non-profits, and snowball sampling to complete an anonymous survey between 2014 and 2015. The sample (N = 501) was 57% women, 15% LGBTQIA; with a mean age of 21; 26% foreign-born; identifying as Filipino (29%), Chinese (24%), Vietnamese (14%), mixed-AAPI heritage (13%), or 21% other. Nearly half the sample (44%) reported ever ENDS use; 11% were current users. Current ENDS use was twofold greater for: Filipino and Vietnamese compared to Chinese respondents; men versus women; LGBTQIA-identified respondents; those vocationally trained; and employed. Awareness of ENDS from peers/friends was most common and was associated with ever though not current ENDS use. Most respondents perceived ENDS as harmful (62%); low compared to high risk perception was associated with a three-fold greater likelihood of ever use and six-fold greater likelihood of current use. Popular flavors were fruit (49%, e.g., lychee, taro) and candy/sweets (26%). Current users viewed ENDS as a healthier alternative or quit aid for conventional cigarettes (42%); recreation/social use (33%) also was common. Findings indicate ENDS visibility among AAPI young adults in California with affinity for flavors and many engaging in trial and current use for harm reduction and recreational/social aims.

[Distribution of HCB discharged from a chemical plant in plants].

PubMed

Chen, Jing; Wang, Lin-Ling; Lu, Xiao-Hua; Yuan, Song-Hu; Liu, Xi-Xiang; Wang, Yue; Zhao, Qian; Mei, Ling-Fang

2009-04-15

The distribution characteristics of hexachlorobenzene (HCB) in plant and rhizosphere soil in contamination conduit, a nearby river and a cropland were studied and the impact factors were also discussed. The results are summarized as follows: the range of the HCB concentration in plant and rhizosphere soil in investigation area were respectively from 4.45 microg x kg(-1) to 1,189.89 microg x kg(-1) (dw) and from 27.93 microg x kg(-1) to 3,480.71 microg x kg(-1) (dw). Higher enrichment of HCB in woodplant than herbs due to higher fat concentration in woodplant in the contamination conduit and the rich concentrtion factor of woodplant and herbs were 0.41-2.55 and 0.01-1.34. The range of HCB concentrations in plants in nearby croplands was significantly wide (4.45-333.1 microg x kg(-1)) while HCB concentrations in different parts of plant were various, e.g. HCB concentrations in fruit, root and shoot of taro were 318.77 microg x kg(-1), 281.02 microg x kg(-1) and 10.94 microg x kg(-1). There was a remarkable positive relation between the concentrations of HCB in plant and fat concentration of plant while no relativity between the concentrations of HCB in plant and those in ground soils in the contamination conduit and cropland. The concentration levels of HCB in plant and rhizosphere soil in river were dramatically decreased with increasing distance from contaminated conduit. There was a remarkable positive relation between the concentrations of HCB in plant and those in ground soils but no relation between concentrations of HCB in plant and fat concentration of plant in river. The distribution characteristics of HCB in plants were influenced by contaminated levels, fat concentration and Partition-transfer model.

Vitamin B-12 supplementation of rural Mexican women changes biochemical vitamin B-12 status indicators but does not affect hematology or a bone turnover marker.

PubMed

Shahab-Ferdows, Setareh; Anaya-Loyola, Miriam A; Vergara-Castañeda, Haydé; Rosado, Jorge L; Keyes, William R; Newman, John W; Miller, Joshua W; Allen, Lindsay H

2012-10-01

A high prevalence of low serum vitamin B-12 concentrations has been reported in studies and surveys in Latin America including Mexico, but the functional consequences are unknown. This randomized controlled trial assessed the response to a high-dose vitamin B-12 supplementation of women in rural Querétaro, Mexico. Participants aged 20-59 y were stratified at baseline to deficient, marginal, and adequate status groups (serum vitamin B-12, 75-148, 149-220, and >220 pmol/L, respectively), and each group was randomized to vitamin B-12 treatment (single dose of 1 mg i.m. then 500 μg/d orally for 3 mo, n = 70) or placebo (n = 62). Measures at baseline and 3 mo included: complete blood count, serum vitamin B-12, holotranscobalamin (holoTC), folate, ferritin, C-reactive protein (CRP), bone alkaline phosphatase, and methylmalonic acid (MMA) and plasma total homocysteine (tHcy). At baseline, 11% of the women were vitamin B-12 deficient and 22% had marginal status. HoloTC was low (<35 pmol/L) in 23% and correlated with serum vitamin B-12 (r = 0.7; P < 0.001). Elevated MMA (>271 nmol/L) and tHcy (>12 μmol/L) occurred in 21 and 31%, respectively, and correlated with serum vitamin B-12 (r = -0.28, P < 0.0007 and r = -0.20, P < 0.01, respectively). Supplementation increased serum vitamin B-12 and holoTC and lowered MMA and tHcy, normalizing all values except for elevated tHcy in 21% of the women. Supplementation did not affect hematology or bone-specific alkaline phosphatase. Vitamin B-12 supplementation normalized biochemical indicators of vitamin B-12 status in the treatment group but did not affect the functional outcomes measured.

Bio-mimicking nano and micro-structured surface fabrication for antibacterial properties in medical implants.

PubMed

Jaggessar, Alka; Shahali, Hesam; Mathew, Asha; Yarlagadda, Prasad K D V

2017-10-02

Orthopaedic and dental implants have become a staple of the medical industry and with an ageing population and growing culture for active lifestyles, this trend is forecast to continue. In accordance with the increased demand for implants, failure rates, particularly those caused by bacterial infection, need to be reduced. The past two decades have led to developments in antibiotics and antibacterial coatings to reduce revision surgery and death rates caused by infection. The limited effectiveness of these approaches has spurred research into nano-textured surfaces, designed to mimic the bactericidal properties of some animal, plant and insect species, and their topographical features. This review discusses the surface structures of cicada, dragonfly and butterfly wings, shark skin, gecko feet, taro and lotus leaves, emphasising the relationship between nano-structures and high surface contact angles on self-cleaning and bactericidal properties. Comparison of these surfaces shows large variations in structure dimension and configuration, indicating that there is no one particular surface structure that exhibits bactericidal behaviour against all types of microorganisms. Recent bio-mimicking fabrication methods are explored, finding hydrothermal synthesis to be the most commonly used technique, due to its environmentally friendly nature and relative simplicity compared to other methods. In addition, current proposed bactericidal mechanisms between bacteria cells and nano-textured surfaces are presented and discussed. These models could be improved by including additional parameters such as biological cell membrane properties, adhesion forces, bacteria dynamics and nano-structure mechanical properties. This paper lastly reviews the mechanical stability and cytotoxicity of micro and nano-structures and materials. While the future of nano-biomaterials is promising, long-term effects of micro and nano-structures in the body must be established before nano-textures can

Subfossil remains of Pediastrum - a tool to obtain palaeolimnological information parallel to pollen analysis?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, F.; Zhu, L.; Ma, Q.; Peng, P.; Lü, X.

2014-12-01

It has been a long-time goal of palynologists to obtain additionally palaeoenvironmental information by the study of Quaternary non-pollen-palynomorphs (NPPs) in pollen slides. As a group of NPPs, subfossil remains of green algae of the genus Pediastrum (fam. Hydrodictyaceae) are frequently found in lake sediments and withstand the palynological standard preparation methods. Determination of Pediastrum taxa to subspecies level is relatively easy with a standard light microscope. Very few studies, however, have used them as palaeolimnological indicators and the knowledge on recent distribution and ecology of many taxa is limited. Introducing new data from Northwestern Europe and the Tibetan Plateau, we show that analysis of subfossil Pediastrum assemblages can reveal valuable information on limnological and climate parameters. Shifts in taxonomic composition of Pediastrum assemblages from lake sediments in northern Germany are shown to strongly reflect the Northern Atlantic Late Glacial climate oscillations. In contrast to previous studies that recognized trophic state as the main driver of change in Pediastrum species composition, we identify climate shifts and related factors as the major drivers of community change. Water depth and trophic state probably acted as secondary factors only. Ongoing research compares the composition of Pediastrum assemblages in surface sediments of Tibetan lakes to environmental variables. While Pediastrum algae are shown to be a part of phytoplankton communities in freshwater to mesosaline lakes, shifts in species composition along the salinity gradient indicate the possible use of the algae group as palaeobioindicator for past humidity changes on the Tibetan Plateau. Additionally, investigations on the relation between water depth and the Pediastrum species composition in lake Taro Co (4575 m asl.) are presented. Our results suggest this algae group has great potential for enabling environmental inferences.

Surface Water in Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Oki, Delwyn S.

2003-01-01

Surface water in Hawaii is a valued resource as well as a potential threat to human lives and property. The surface-water resources of Hawaii are of significant economic, ecologic, cultural, and aesthetic importance. Streams supply more than 50 percent of the irrigation water in Hawaii, and although streams supply only a few percent of the drinking water statewide, surface water is the main source of drinking water in some places. Streams also are a source of hydroelectric power, provide important riparian and instream habitats for many unique native species, support traditional and customary Hawaiian gathering rights and the practice of taro cultivation, and possess valued aesthetic qualities. Streams affect the physical, chemical, and aesthetic quality of receiving waters, such as estuaries, bays, and nearshore waters, which are critical to the tourism-based economy of the islands. Streams in Hawaii pose a danger because of their flashy nature; a stream's stage, or water level, can rise several feet in less than an hour during periods of intense rainfall. Streams in Hawaii are flashy because rainfall is intense, drainage basins are small, basins and streams are steep, and channel storage is limited. Streamflow generated during periods of heavy rainfall has led to loss of property and human lives in Hawaii. Most Hawaiian streams originate in the mountainous interiors of the islands and terminate at the coast. Streams are significant sculptors of the Hawaiian landscape because of the erosive power of the water they convey. In geologically young areas, such as much of the southern part of the island of Hawaii, well-defined stream channels have not developed because the permeability of the surface rocks generally is so high that rainfall infiltrates before flowing for significant distances on the surface. In geologically older areas that have received significant rainfall, streams and mass wasting have carved out large valleys.

New species of Narberdia Burke from México and Central America (Coleoptera: Curculionidae).

PubMed

Soto-Hernández, Macotulio

2017-05-08

Four new species of the previously monotypic genus Narberdia Burke are described. All of them are intimately associated with plants of the genus Bernardia (Euphorbiaceae). Narberdia cervantae Soto-Hernández, new species (México, Jalisco on Bernardia spongiosa McVaugh), N. sarukhani Soto-Hernández, new species (México, Veracruz and Costa Rica on B. mexicana (Hook. & Arn.) Müll. Arg. and B. nicaraguensis Standl. & L.O. Williams), N. dugesi Soto-Hernández (México, Querétaro and Michoacán on B. mexicana and B. albida Lundell), and N. ramuvei Soto-Hernández, new species (México, Durango, Jalisco and Puebla on B. changii A. Cerv. & Flores Olv., B. rzedowskii A. Cerv. & Flores Olv. and B. valdesii A. Cerv. & Flores Olv.). Use of more than one species of plant as a host by one species of weevil is a common occurrence in Anthonomini. Sexual dimorphism is evident in the species with the female rostrum more slender and relatively longer than in male, the antennal scape attached near the midpoint of the rostrum in the female and beyond the midpoint in the male, and female with pro- and mesotibia bearing a tooth adjacent to the mucro, this tooth absent in the male. Specimens were collected at elevations from 62 m to 2288 m. The genus, previously only known from the United States of America and extreme northern México is now also known from Costa Rica as well as other areas of México. Narberdia apparently is most closely related to several Anthonomus squamosus species group members, both with similar characters of the body and form of the male median lobe (broad at the apex and strongly narrowed near the apex).

Profil épidémiologique et clinique de la tuberculose dans la zone de santé de Lubumbashi (RD Congo)

PubMed Central

Ngama, Christian Kakisingi; Muteya, Michel Manika; Lukusha, Yves Isango Idi; Kapend, Serge Matanda; Tshamba, Henri Mundongo; Makinko, Paul Ilunga; Mulumba, Claude Mwamba; Kalala, Liévin Kapend a

2014-01-01

tuberculeux dans les démarches diagnostique, le suivi des patients bacilliformes et encourager l'adhérence au traitement. PMID:25018820

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stone, E L; Migvar, L; Robison, W L

Many years ago people living on atolls depended entirely on foods gathered from the sea and reefs and grown on land. Only a few plants, such as coconut (ni), Pandanus (bob), and arrowroot (mok-mok), could be grown on the lower rainfall atolls, although adequate groundwater conditions also allowed taro (iaraj, kotak, wot) to be cultivated. On higher rainfall atolls, breadfruit (ma) was a major food source, and banana (binana, kepran), lime (laim), and taros (iaraj, kotak, wot) could be grown. The early atoll populations were experts in growing plants that were vital to sustaining their nutrition requirements and to providingmore » materials for thatch, basketry, cordage, canoe construction, flowers, and medicine. They knew which varieties of food plants grew well or poorly on their atolls, how to propagate them, and where on their atoll they grew best. They knew the uses of most native plants and what the various woods were well suited for. Many varieties of Pandanus (bob) and breadfruit (ma) grew well with high rainfall, but only a few produced well on drier atolls. Such information had been passed down through the generations although some of it has been lost in the last century. Today there are new plants and new varieties of existing plants that can be grown on atolls. There are also new materials and information on how to grow both the old and new plants more effectively. However, there are also introduced weeds and pests to control. Today, there is also an acute need to grow more of the useful plants adapted to atolls. Increasing numbers of people living on an atoll without an equal increase in income or food production stretches the available food supplies. Much has been written about the poor conditions for plant growth on atolls. As compared with many places in the world where crops are grown, however, atolls can provide some highly favorable conditions. For instance, the driving force for plant growth is sunlight, and on atolls light is abundant

Innovative approaches in nutrition education in the Pacific region.

PubMed

Jabre, B

1981-01-01

It has often been said that ignorance is the most cause of malnutrition. However, in the Pacific Islands rapid modernization has confronted the people with the realization that their traditional way of life is no longer applicable and socially acceptable: this has led to the adoption of practices that are not fully understood or carried out properly (as is the case in bottle feeding). The nutrition education programme described in the paper attempts to halp individuals and communities become aware of the changes taking place and their consequences, and to provide them with the knowledge they need to seek solutions by themselves. To consolidate nutrition education in the various islands, training is undertaken by the Community Education Training Centre and in the territories through in-service courses. The level of training is highly practical and stresses skills and information useful for village people. Emphasis is on methods of motivating the community and techniques in nutrition education; the use of growth charts, cooking demonstrations, vegetable gardens and the proper use of audio-visual aids. One aim is to promote the consumption of coconut milk instead of soft drinks, while a major focus is the encouragement of breast feeding. Recipes are traditional ones modified for higher nutritive value, such as the addition of vegetables, perhaps taro leaves, or banana flower to a typical fish soup. In school, learning units have also been developed to promote appreciation of local food. Apart from the conventional educational techniques and materials, new aids are being utilised, especially games: nutrition bingo, gin rummy, menu planning games, the coconut climber's game, nutrition puzzles, etc. It is the author's experience that, to be effective, nutrition education programmes have to be an integral part of a national strategy aimed at combatting malnutrition. Isolated efforts may be better than none, but results remain marginal, if only because there is such a

[Acute encephalopathy caused by cyanogenic fungi in 2004, and magic mushroom regulation in Japan].

PubMed

Gonmori, Kunio; Yokoyama, Kazumasa

2009-03-01

Two topics, related to mushroom poisoning of recent interest in Japan, have been presented. In autumn 2004, 59 cases of acute encephalopathy were reported across 9 prefectures in Japan (24 from Akita Prefecture with 8 deaths; age 48-93, average 70; female 14, male 10). Of 24 cases, 20 had kidney dysfunction. Four poisoned subjects showed no kidney trouble. Of the 24 poisoning cases, 23 people ate Pleurocybella porrigens, and one ate Grifola frondosa. The latter subject (female, late 40's) was receiving dialysis for more than 35 years. In August, she felt dizziness, headache and tinnitus. She visited hospital and asked to stay there. In the hospital she ate 5g of stewed G. frondosa and 10g of the same fungus boiled with chicken and taro on different days. Fourteen to 18 days after the eatings, she developed cramps and lost consciousness, and fell into a coma. Her cramp and coma continued for about 10 days almost until her death. Her symptoms caused by G. frondosa were similar to those observed for the above 23 cases of P. porrigens ingestion. Therefore, we concluded that encephalopathy experienced in Akita Prefecture caused by was the cyanogenic fungi such as P. porrigens , G. frondosa, Pleurotus eringii etc. Although the amounts of mushrooms eaten by poisoned subjects were not so clear, we estimated that the amounts of hydrogen cyanide (HCN) taken into human bodies exceeded the detoxication limit of HCN, resulting in HCN poisoning. However, it has not been proved that the encephalopathy is directly or indirectly caused by the HCN poisoning. Many typhoons came across Japan and landed 10 times in 2004, and mushroom size was larger than usual one, and HCN contents in fruit-bodies seemed to be increased especially in the late-stage of their growth. Thirteen species of magic mushrooms were prohibited by the law from 2002 in Japan. They include Copelandia (Panaeolus) cyanescens, Panaeolus papilionaceus, Panaeolus sphinctrinus, Panaeolus subbalteatus, Psilocybe argentipes

Tamper-Resistant Mobile Health Using Blockchain Technology.

PubMed

Ichikawa, Daisuke; Kashiyama, Makiko; Ueno, Taro

2017-07-26

provide a novel solution that enables both accessibility and data transparency without a third party such as a contract research organization. ©Daisuke Ichikawa, Makiko Kashiyama, Taro Ueno. Originally published in JMIR Mhealth and Uhealth (http://mhealth.jmir.org), 26.07.2017.

An electric field induced in the retina and brain at threshold magnetic flux density causing magnetophosphenes.

PubMed

Hirata, Akimasa; Takano, Yukinori; Fujiwara, Osamu; Dovan, Thanh; Kavet, Robert

2011-07-07

For magnetic field exposures at extremely low frequencies, the electrostimulatory response with the lowest threshold is the magnetophosphene, a response that corresponds to an adult exposed to a 20 Hz magnetic field of nominally 8.14 mT. In the IEEE standard C95.6 (2002), the corresponding in situ field in the retinal locus of an adult-sized ellipsoidal was calculated to be 53 mV m(-1). However, the associated dose in the retina and brain at a high level of resolution in anatomically correct human models is incompletely characterized. Furthermore, the dose maxima in tissue computed with voxel human models are prone to staircasing errors, particularly for the low-frequency dosimetry. In the analyses presented in this paper, analytical and quasi-static finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) solutions were first compared for a three-layer sphere exposed to a uniform 50 Hz magnetic field. Staircasing errors in the FDTD results were observed at the tissue interface, and were greatest at the skin-air boundary. The 99th percentile value was within 3% of the analytic maximum, depending on model resolution, and thus may be considered a close approximation of the analytic maximum. For the adult anatomical model, TARO, exposed to a uniform magnetic field, the differences in the 99th percentile value of in situ electric fields for 2 mm and 1 mm voxel models were at most several per cent. For various human models exposed at the magnetophosphene threshold at three orthogonal field orientations, the in situ electric field in the brain was between 10% and 70% greater than the analytical IEEE threshold of 53 mV m(-1), and in the retina was lower by roughly 50% for two horizontal orientations (anterior-posterior and lateral), and greater by about 15% for a vertically oriented field. Considering a reduction factor or safety factors of several folds applied to electrostimulatory thresholds, the 99th percentile dose to a tissue calculated with voxel human models may be used as an

Clinical outcomes associated with brand-to-generic phenytoin interchange.

PubMed

Kinikar, Shilpa A; Delate, Thomas; Menaker-Wiener, C Mindy; Bentley, William H

2012-05-01

Concerns that antiepileptic brand-to-generic interchange results in disruption of seizure control are widespread. However, little within-patient evidence exists examining such interchanges. To compare within-patient seizure control before and after the interchange of a branded to a single-source generic phenytoin among patients with seizures in a managed care organization. This was a pre-post, self-controlled, retrospective study. Adults with a history of seizure who used Dilantin Kapseals 100 mg extended phenytoin sodium, USP, capsules and whose therapy was interchanged to Taro Pharmaceuticals' AB-rated generic extended phenytoin sodium capsules, USP, 100 mg between July 2007 and May 2008 were included. Study outcomes included the comparisons of the proportions of patients with at least emergency department (ED) visit/inpatient hospitalization and medical office visit/nonoffice consultation for acute seizure in the 6 months before and after interchange. Outcomes were confirmed with manual chart reviews and adjusted for potential confounding medication use. A total of 222 patients were included in the study. Patients were primarily middle-aged (mean 56 years), equally mixed by sex (47% female); most had nonintractable seizures. The majority of patients (~70%) were on phenytoin as monotherapy and had equivalent rates of purchases for potentially confounding medications in both pre- and postinterchange time periods (all p > 0.05). Low serum concentrations were detected more often in the postinterchange study period (adjusted p < 0.001). Despite this, there were low proportions of patients with confirmed seizure events that resulted in an ED visit/inpatient hospitalization in both pre- and postinterchange periods (both 6.3%, adjusted p = 0.937). The proportion of patients with confirmed seizure events diagnosed at a medical office visit was not significantly different between the preinterchange and postinterchange periods (12.2% vs 11.3%, adjusted p = 0.545). No

Identification and Molecular Characterization of Nuclear Citrus leprosis virus, a Member of the Proposed Dichorhavirus Genus Infecting Multiple Citrus Species in Mexico.

PubMed

Roy, Avijit; Stone, Andrew L; Shao, Jonathan; Otero-Colina, Gabriel; Wei, Gang; Choudhary, Nandlal; Achor, Diann; Levy, Laurene; Nakhla, Mark K; Hartung, John S; Schneider, William L; Brlansky, Ronald H

2015-04-01

Citrus leprosis is one of the most destructive diseases of Citrus spp. and is associated with two unrelated virus groups that produce particles primarily in either the cytoplasm or nucleus of infected plant cells. Symptoms of leprosis, including chlorotic spots surrounded by yellow haloes on leaves and necrotic spots on twigs and fruit, were observed on leprosis-affected mandarin and navel sweet orange trees in the state of Querétaro, Mexico. Serological and molecular assays showed that the cytoplasmic types of Citrus leprosis virus (CiLV-C) often associated with leprosis symptomatic tissues were absent. However, using transmission electron microscopy, bullet-shaped rhabdovirus-like virions were observed in the nuclei and cytoplasm of the citrus leprosis-infected leaf tissues. An analysis of small RNA populations from symptomatic tissue was carried out to determine the genome sequence of the rhabdovirus-like particles observed in the citrus leprosis samples. The complete genome sequence showed that the nuclear type of CiLV (CiLV-N) present in the samples consisted of two negative-sense RNAs: 6,268-nucleotide (nt)-long RNA1 and 5,847-nt-long RNA2, excluding the poly(A) tails. CiLV-N had a genome organization identical to that of Orchid fleck virus (OFV), with the exception of shorter 5' untranslated regions in RNA1 (53 versus 205 nt) and RNA2 (34 versus 182 nt). Phylogenetic trees constructed with the amino acid sequences of the nucleocapsid (N) and glycoproteins (G) and the RNA polymerase (L protein) showed that CiLV-N clusters with OFV. Furthermore, phylogenetic analyses of N protein established CiLV-N as a member of the proposed genus Dichorhavirus. Reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction primers for the detection of CiLV-N were designed based on the sequence of the N gene and the assay was optimized and tested to detect the presence of CiLV-N in both diseased and symptom-free plants.

Poisonous plants in New Zealand: a review of those that are most commonly enquired about to the National Poisons Centre.

PubMed

Slaughter, Robin J; Beasley, D Michael G; Lambie, Bruce S; Wilkins, Gerard T; Schep, Leo J

2012-12-14

New Zealand has a number of plants, both native and introduced, contact with which can lead to poisoning. The New Zealand National Poisons Centre (NZNPC) frequently receives enquiries regarding exposures to poisonous plants. Poisonous plants can cause harm following inadvertent ingestion, via skin contact, eye exposures or inhalation of sawdust or smoked plant matter. The purpose of this article is to determine the 15 most common poisonous plant enquiries to the NZNPC and provide a review of current literature, discussing the symptoms that might arise upon exposure to these poisonous plants and the recommended medical management of such poisonings. Call data from the NZNPC telephone collection databases regarding human plant exposures between 2003 and 2010 were analysed retrospectively. The most common plants causing human poisoning were selected as the basis for this review. An extensive literature review was also performed by systematically searching OVID MEDLINE, ISI Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. Further information was obtained from book chapters, relevant news reports and web material. For the years 2003-2010 inclusive, a total of 256,969 enquiries were received by the NZNPC. Of these enquiries, 11,049 involved exposures to plants and fungi. The most common poisonous plant enquiries, in decreasing order of frequency, were: black nightshade (Solanum nigrum), arum lily (Zantedeschia aethiopica), kowhai (Sophora spp.), euphorbia (Euphorbia spp.), peace lily (Spathiphyllum spp.), agapanthus (Agapanthus spp.), stinking iris (Iris foetidissima), rhubarb (Rheum rhabarbarum), taro (Colocasia esculentum), oleander (Nerium oleander), daffodil (Narcissus spp.), hemlock (Conium maculatum), karaka (Corynocarpus laevigatus), foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) and ongaonga/New Zealand tree nettle (Urtica ferox). The combined total of enquiries for these 15 species was 2754 calls (representing approximately 25% of all enquiries regarding plant exposures). The signs

The Hawaiian freshwater algae biodiversity survey (2009–2014): systematic and biogeographic trends with an emphasis on the macroalgae

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background A remarkable range of environmental conditions is present in the Hawaiian Islands due to their gradients of elevation, rainfall and island age. Despite being well known as a location for the study of evolutionary processes and island biogeography, little is known about the composition of the non-marine algal flora of the archipelago, its degree of endemism, or affinities with other floras. We conducted a biodiversity survey of the non-marine macroalgae of the six largest main Hawaiian Islands using molecular and microscopic assessment techniques. We aimed to evaluate whether endemism or cosmopolitanism better explain freshwater algal distribution patterns, and provide a baseline data set for monitoring future biodiversity changes in the Hawaiian Islands. Results 1,786 aquatic and terrestrial habitats and 1,407 distinct collections of non-marine macroalgae were collected from the islands of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui, Lanai and Hawaii from the years 2009–2014. Targeted habitats included streams, wet walls, high elevation bogs, taro fields, ditches and flumes, lakes/reservoirs, cave walls and terrestrial areas. Sites that lacked freshwater macroalgae were typically terrestrial or wet wall habitats that were sampled for diatoms and other microalgae. Approximately 50% of the identifications were of green algae, with lesser proportions of diatoms, red algae, cyanobacteria, xanthophytes and euglenoids. 898 DNA sequences were generated representing eight different markers, which enabled an assessment of the number of taxonomic entities for genera collected as part of the survey. Forty-four well-characterized taxa were assessed for global distribution patterns. This analysis revealed no clear biogeographic affinities of the flora, with 27.3% characterized as “cosmopolitan”, 11.4% “endemic”, and 61.3% as intermediate. Conclusions The Hawaiian freshwater algal biodiversity survey represents the first comprehensive effort to characterize the non

Women in Guam consume more calories during feast days than during non-feast days

PubMed Central

Paulino, Yvette C.; Leon Guerrero, Rachael T.; Novotny, Rachel

2014-01-01

Parties (feast days) have become increasingly frequent and abundant, in terms of food, on the island of Guam. Considering the potential impact of this frequency and abundance on food intake, this study compared food intake during feast days and non-feast days of women in Guam (25 Chamorros; 24 Filipinas). The women (≥40 yr) recalled foods they usually consumed during feast days. Subsequently, a 24-hour dietary recall for a non-feast day was completed by a subsample (n=25). Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured to assess obesity status. Statistical analyses (paired t-test, ANOVA, and chi-square test) were performed with SPSS. Compared to a non-feast day, the women reported higher intakes of dietary energy (2645.0 ± 1125.8 versus 1654.0 ± 718.8 kcal/day), carbohydrates (43.8 ± 11.5% versus 51.8 ± 10.2% of kcal), total fat (34.1 ± 7.8% versus 27.5 ± 9.6% of kcal), saturated fat (11.4 ± 4.7% versus 7.9 ± 3.4% of kcal), and sugar (89.5 ± 62.8 versus 47.3 ± 42.2 g/day) on feast days. Chamorros, compared to Filipinas, reported higher dietary energy density (1.7 ± 0.4 versus 1.4 ± 0.3 kcal/g), total fat (35.3 ± 8.9% versus 30.7 ± 6.8% of kcal), and saturated fat (12.4 ± 4.9% versus 9.4 ± 3.3% of kcal); and lower servings of fruit (0.5 ± 1.0 versus 2.7 ± 1.8) on feast days. Fourteen Chamorros (56.0%) and one Filipina (4.1%) were classified as obese. Current feasting behaviors of women in Guam may contribute to obesity if continued for a long period. The women would benefit by choosing more fruit and vegetable dishes in place of high-energy dishes. Chamorro women would particularly benefit by reducing saturated fat intake. Traditional foods, such as taro, breadfruit, seafood, fruits, and vegetables, would help accomplish this and thus should be promoted at parties on Guam. PMID:25580033

Women in Guam consume more calories during feast days than during non-feast days.

PubMed

Paulino, Yvette C; Leon Guerrero, Rachael T; Novotny, Rachel

2011-03-01

Parties (feast days) have become increasingly frequent and abundant, in terms of food, on the island of Guam. Considering the potential impact of this frequency and abundance on food intake, this study compared food intake during feast days and non-feast days of women in Guam (25 Chamorros; 24 Filipinas). The women (≥40 yr) recalled foods they usually consumed during feast days. Subsequently, a 24-hour dietary recall for a non-feast day was completed by a subsample (n=25). Height, weight, and waist circumference were measured to assess obesity status. Statistical analyses (paired t-test, ANOVA, and chi-square test) were performed with SPSS. Compared to a non-feast day, the women reported higher intakes of dietary energy (2645.0 ± 1125.8 versus 1654.0 ± 718.8 kcal/day), carbohydrates (43.8 ± 11.5% versus 51.8 ± 10.2% of kcal), total fat (34.1 ± 7.8% versus 27.5 ± 9.6% of kcal), saturated fat (11.4 ± 4.7% versus 7.9 ± 3.4% of kcal), and sugar (89.5 ± 62.8 versus 47.3 ± 42.2 g/day) on feast days. Chamorros, compared to Filipinas, reported higher dietary energy density (1.7 ± 0.4 versus 1.4 ± 0.3 kcal/g), total fat (35.3 ± 8.9% versus 30.7 ± 6.8% of kcal), and saturated fat (12.4 ± 4.9% versus 9.4 ± 3.3% of kcal); and lower servings of fruit (0.5 ± 1.0 versus 2.7 ± 1.8) on feast days. Fourteen Chamorros (56.0%) and one Filipina (4.1%) were classified as obese. Current feasting behaviors of women in Guam may contribute to obesity if continued for a long period. The women would benefit by choosing more fruit and vegetable dishes in place of high-energy dishes. Chamorro women would particularly benefit by reducing saturated fat intake. Traditional foods, such as taro, breadfruit, seafood, fruits, and vegetables, would help accomplish this and thus should be promoted at parties on Guam.

Malnutrition and child feeding practices in Western Samoa.

PubMed

Jansen, A A

1977-12-01

Mild protein-calorie malnutrition is common in Western Samoa. Severe protein-calorie malnutrition is also an important cause of death in infants and toddlers, and anemia is frequently found in small children. This paper investigates child feeding practices because of its possible relationship with the occurrence of severe early malnutrition. Data on infant and toddler feeding practices were collected from 90 mothers from the town of Apia and 38 mothers from the island is Savai'i. Average age of mothers in Apia was 29.0 years and in Savai'i, 30 years. Most belonged to the low income group. Average interval between births in Apia was 22.3 months, in Savai'i, 25.7 months. The proportion of bottlefed children was much lower in Savai'i than in urban Apia, 28.2 vs. 57.9%. 31.3% of Apian mothers weaned their last child abruptly compared with 41.6% of Savai'i mothers. In Apia, weaning foods consisted of milk, meat, and other protein-rich foods; in Savai'i, taro, orange leaf tea, rice, and other were the main weaning foods. Generally, semisolids were not introduced before the child was more than 6 months of age. Some mothers in Savai'i appeared to give their children monotonous diet. A number of cultural taboos appear to affect the children's diet as well as that of pregnant and lactating mothers. Many women believed in them and would not eat or do certain things. Overall, it appears that many of the mothers are ignorant about the nutritional needs of their children. Almost 7% of the 0-5 year old children suffered from borderline malnutrition. 9% of the total number of admissions during the period October 1968 to April 1972 were malnourished children. The increase in borderline malnutrition and severe malnutrition among the children towards the end of the 1st year is attributed mainly to the late introduction of semisolid and solid foods. Other causes of malnutrition include lack of money, especially in urban areas, large families, changes in the diet because of higher

Necessity of Aloha in Humanity s travels from the Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yuen, D.

While technology and hardware provide the physical means to reach the Moon and beyond, the greatest explorers in human history took not only technologies, but a strong and guiding faith. This poster presentation seeks to present to the conference attendees the desirablility of using, as a m del for exploration, the Polynesiano voyaging culture, and most importantly, the concept of "Aloha" as a sound basis for interaction between humans of various cultures, and as a platform on which to base future exploration. The concept of "Aloha" is t h e c rnerstone of Hawaiian culture. It assures theo travelers' welcome, and it assures a safe departure. It is a haven in time of storm, and a fair wind along the journey. It is the food and drink of the soul. As we continue our explorations to new worlds, it is paramount that we continue the tradition of Aloha. The ancestors of the Hawaiians were adventurers, explorers, and settlers. Not knowing if they would be able to return to the homeland, they took with them the necessities of their lives - pigs, chickens, dogs, taro, sweet potato, breadfruit, gourds - and many other things they knew to be useful. And they took Aloha. We also must take with us food and tools, though in different forms than the early explorers. And, we also must take Aloha. Aloha is similar in concept to Namaste, a Sanskrit greeting which can be translated as "the divine in me honors the divine in you." It is far more rich in meaning than can be expressed in a Visitors' Bureau phrasebook. While Aloha is translated as, "hello," "goodby," "love," "affection," and "friendship," it also embodies responsibility for oneself and for one's actions toward others. It is a verbal shorthand which expresses an acknowledgement of the net-like interweaving of family and community relationships. In the twenty first century we can look to the example of these successful explorers. We, too, can carry with us an inexhaustible supply of Aloha. It has no mass, no height, depth

Magnetic evaluation of TSP-filters for air quality monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castañeda-Miranda, Ana Gabriela; Böhnel, Harald N.; Molina-Garza, Roberto S.; Chaparro, Marcos A. E.

2014-10-01

We present the magnetic properties of the powders collected by high volume total suspended particle air samplers used to monitor atmospheric pollution in Santiago de Querétaro, a city of one million people in central Mexico. The magnetic measurements have been combined with scanning electron microscopy observations and analysis, in order to characterize the particles captured in the filters as natural and anthropogenic. The main goal of the study is to test if magnetic measurements on the sampled atmospheric dust can be effective, low-cost, proxy to qualitatively estimate the air quality, complementing the traditional analytical methods. The magnetic properties of the powder collected in the filters have been investigated measuring the low field magnetic susceptibility, hysteresis loops, thermomagnetic curves, and isothermal remanent magnetization. The rock magnetism data have been supplemented by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis and Raman spectroscopy. It was found that the main magnetic carrier is low-Ti magnetite in the PSD range with a contribution from SP particles, and small but significant contributions from hematite, maghemite and goethite particles. Total suspended particles in the atmosphere during the monitored days ranged between about 30 and 280 μg/m3. Magnetic susceptibility values are well correlated with the independently determined total suspended particles concentration (R = 0.93), but particle concentration does not correlate as well with IRM1T. This may be attributed to contributions from SP and paramagnetic particles to the susceptibility signal, but not to the remanence. The effects of climate in particle size, composition and concentration were considered in terms of precipitation and wind intensity, but they are actually minor. The main effect of climate appears to be the removal of SP particles during rainy days. There is a contribution to air pollution from natural mineral sources, which we attribute to low vegetation cover

Characteristics of Articles About Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Japanese Newspapers: Time-Series Analysis Study.

PubMed

Ueda, Nao; Yokouchi, Ryoki; Onoda, Taro; Ogihara, Atsushi

2017-12-19

regarding the safety of HPV vaccines, but hardly any articles reported this statement. Rather, several articles were published about the side effects after June 2013. Since we consider media coverage to be a factor affecting human health behavior, the media should extensively report on the cost of not receiving cervical cancer vaccination, global trends concerning cervical cancer vaccination, and statements released by various agencies on the subject. ©Nao Ueda, Ryoki Yokouchi, Taro Onoda, Atsushi Ogihara. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 19.12.2017.

Revisiting Jorullo volcano (Mexico): monogenetic or polygenetic volcano?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Delgado Granados, H.; Roberge, J.; Farraz Montes, I. A.; Victoria Morales, A.; Pérez Bustamante, J. C.; Correa Olan, J. C.; Gutiérrez Jiménez, A. J.; Adán González, N.; Bravo Cardona, E. F.

2007-05-01

Jorullo volcano is located near the volcanic front of the westernmost part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, which is related to the subduction of the Cocos plate beneath the North American plate. This part of the TMVB is known as the Michoacán-Guanajuato Volcanic Field, a region where widespread monogenetic volcanism is present although polygenetic volcanism is also recognized (i. e. Tancítaro volcano; Ownby et al., 2006). Jorullo volcano was born in the middle of crop fields. During its birth several lava flows were emitted and several cones were constructed. The main cone is the Jorullo proper, but there is a smaller cone on the north (Volcán del Norte), and three smaller cones aligned N-S on the south (Unnamed cone, UC; Volcán de Enmedio, VE; and Volcán del Sur, VS). The cone of Jorullo volcano is made up of tephra and lava flows erupted from the crater. The three southern cones show very interesting histories not described previously. VE erupted highly vesiculated tephras including xenoliths from the granitic basement. VS is made of spatter and bombs. A very well preserved hummocky morphology reveals that VE and VS collapsed towards the west. After the collapses, phreatomagmatic activity took place at the UC blanketing VE, VS and the southern flank of the Jorullo cone with sticky surge deposits. The excellent study by Luhr and Carmichael (1985) indicates that during the course of the eruption, lavas evolved from primitive basalt to basaltic andesite, although explosive products show a reverse evolution pattern (Johnson et al., 2006). We mapped lava flows not described by the observers in the 18th century nor considered in previous geologic reports as part of the Jorullo lavas. These lavas are older, distributed to the west and south, and some of them resemble the lava flows from La Pilita volcano, a cone older than Jorullo (Luhr and Carmichael, 1985). These lava flows were not considered before because they were not extruded during the 1759

Population pressure on coral atolls: trends and approaching limits.

PubMed

Rapaport, M

1990-09-01

Trends and approaching limits of population pressure on coral atolls is discussed by examining the atoll environment in terms of the physical geography, the production systems, and resource distribution. Atoll populations are grouped as dependent and independent, and demographic trends in population growth, migraiton, urbanization, and political dependency are reviewed. Examination of the carrying capacity includes a dynamic model, the influences of the West, and philopsophical considerations. The carrying capacity is the "maximal population supportable in a given area". Traditional models are criticized because of a lack in accounting for external linkages. The proposed model is dynamic and considers perceived needs and overseas linkages. It also explains regional disparities in population distribution, and provides a continuing model for population movement from outer islands to district centers and mainland areas. Because of increased expectations and perceived needs, there is a lower carrying capacity for outlying areas, and expanded capacity in district centers. This leads to urbanization, emigration, and carrying capacity overshot in regional and mainland areas. Policy intervention is necessary at the regional and island community level. Atolls, which are islands surrounding deep lagoons, exist in archipelagoes across the oceans, and are rich in aquatic life. The balance in this small land area with a vulnerable ecosystem may be easily disturbed by scarce water supplies, barren soils, rising sea levels in the future, hurricanes, and tsunamis. Traditionally, fisheries and horticulture (pit-taro, coconuts, and breadfruit) have sustained populations, but modern influences such as blasting, reef mining, new industrial technologies, population pressure, and urbanization threaten the balance. Population pressure, which has lead to pollution, epidemics, malnutrition, crime, social disintegration, and foreign dependence, is evidenced in the areas of Tuvalu, Kiribati

A NON-DAIRY PROBIOTIC’S (POI) INFLUENCE ON CHANGING THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT’S MICROFLORA ENVIRONMENT

PubMed Central

Brown, Amy C.; Shovic, Anne; Ibrahim, Salam; Holck, Peter; Huang, Alvin

2006-01-01

Justification Yogurt has been historically used to restore gut microflora adversely affected by antibiotic treatment. Certain fermented dairy products are probiotics; “live microorganisms which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit to the host.” Microorganisms in foods may benefit certain health conditions such as diarrhea, gastroenteritis, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and cancer. A potential new probiotic from a Polynesian traditional food is poi; a starchy paste made from the corm of taro plants. Objective The purpose of this study was to determine if consumption of poi, a potential non-dairy probiotic, altered the microflora in the gastrointestinal tract of healthy adults. Methods A cross-over clinical study included 18 subjects (19–64 years of age) divided into a poi group (n=10) and control group (n=8). The study duration of 14 weeks consisted of a 2-week washout, 4-week treatment or control, a subsequent 2-week washout, cross-over of 4-week treatment or control, and a final 2-week washout. Subjects thus served as their own controls. While receiving the poi treatment, participants consumed fresh poi (1–2 days old) three times a day (130 g/meal or about _ cup/meal); the control group did not. Both groups filled out 3-day dietary records to ensure compliance. Measurable outcomes include pre-and post-treatment microbiological fecal culture analyses. Results We found no significant differences in total bacterial counts following a poi diet versus following a control diet, nor were significant differences found in counts of specific bacterial species. Lactococcus tends to be higher in poi when it is analyzed for specific bacteria, but the poi consumption in our study did not alter the mean concentration of individual bacterial species (log10 CFU/g wet feces) for Escherichia coli, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, and Bifidobacterium. No significant differences in stool frequency or

Sulfur isotope study of the Velardeña skarn (Zn-Pb), Durango, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jimenez, A.

2012-04-01

Sulfur isotope study of the Velardeña skarn (Zn-Pb), Durango, Mexico Abigail Jimenez-Franco1*, Pura Alfonso Abella2, Carles Canet3, Eduardo González-Partida4 1 Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán, 04510 México D.F., Mexico 2 Departament d'Enginyeria Minera i Recursos Naturals, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av de Les Bases de Manresa 61-73, 08242 Manresa. 3Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Delegación Coyoacán, 04510 México D.F., Mexico 4Centro de Geociencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Boulevard Juriquilla 3001, 76230 Santiago de Querétaro, Qro., Mexico The Velardeña mining district is located in north-eastern part of the state of Durango, in northern of Mexico. The ore deposit is a lead-zinc, garnet-rich skarn developed at the contact between granite porphyry dikes (Eocene) and well-laminated limestones with interbedded chert (Albian-Cenomanian). A study of sulfur isotopes has been carried out in various sulfide minerals of the ores of Velardeña, in order to: (a) constrain the possible sources of sulfur and, therefore, better understand the sulfide mineralizing processes, and (b) to estimate the temperature of the ore-forming stage of the skarn. Sulfur isotope analyses were performed in 21 pure fractions of sulfide minerals of the ore mineralization (pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and galena). The mineral separation was performed using a series of sieves, and the purity of the samples was verified under a binocular microscope. Isotopic analyses were done on a Finnigan MAT Delta C flow elemental analyzer coupled to a TC-EA, according with the method of Giesemann et al. (1974). The δ34S values of the analyzed sulfides range mostly between -0.6 and +2.6 ‰ (relative to the CDT standard). These values are indicative of a magmatic source of sulfur. A single analysis falls

Seismic and Tectonic Regionalization of the State of Michoacan.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vazquez Rosas, R.; Aguirre, J.; Garduño-Monroy, V. H.; Ramirez-Guzman, L.

2017-12-01

relatively moderate. The Zone B-2 is located in the limits of Michoacán and Guerrero, within the fault complex Michoacán Oaxaca, and the faults Zitzio and Villa de Santiago. With relatively moderate seismicity. Zone C This zone is located in the limits of Guanajuato, Querétaro and State of Mexico, within the Acambay fault complex and the Morelia fault system. With relatively low seismicity.

Relationship Between Precipitation Chemistry and Meteorological Parameters at a Urban Site in the North of Queretaro State

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

García Martínez, R.; Hernández, G.; Solis, S.; Torres, M. D.; Padilla, H.; Báez, A.

2010-12-01

A total of 50 wet precipitation samples were collected per event at the Juriquilla site from mid-May 2009 to the end of May 2010. The Juriquilla sampling site was located on the roof of the Geoscience Building, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, at the Juriquilla Campus in the city of Querétaro located at 20°41'58"N and 100°27'28" W, at 1920 meters above sea level (masl). Sampling was done in passive collectors that consisted of a high density polyethylene funnel connected to a 2-liter polyethylene bottle, supported by a rod 1.5 m above the roof. One of the collectors was used to take samples for trace metals. The analysis was done in soluble and insoluble fractions. Al, Ag, As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, V and Zn were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy with a graphite furnace accessory. The other collector was used to measure pH and major ions (SO4-2, Cl-, NO3-, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, K+ and NH4+) in the soluble fractions, because it was assumed that these ions are completely soluble in rainwater. The major ions SO4-2, Cl-, and NO3-, were analyzed by a Varian Model 2010 ion chromatograph; Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+ and K+ were determined by flame atomic absorption spectrometry and NH4+ by a UV spectrophotometer. In this study, synoptic maps were used to analyze the transport of air masses before rainfall, enabling back trajectories to be used to estimate the source region of pollutants. To understand the variety of synoptic weather conditions, data were associated with the corresponding air mass back trajectories calculated by the NOAA HYSPLIT model (Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model). Back trajectory models have very simple advection schemes to calculate the previous position of an air parcel by using estimated wind speed and direction for the time period prior to arrival at the selected site. In this study, the origin of the air mass for an event was evaluated by a three-day back-trajectory before arrival to Queretaro. Mass back

Tocopherol and tocotrienol levels of foods consumed in Hawaii.

PubMed

Franke, Adrian A; Murphy, Suzanne P; Lacey, Rochelle; Custer, Laurie J

2007-02-07

Because of the individual biological effects and the uncertain or missing information on levels of tocopherols (T) and tocotrienols (T3) in foods frequently consumed in Hawaii, 79 food items (50 in duplicate) were analyzed for alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocopherol (alphaT, betaT, gammaT, and deltaT) and alpha-, beta-, gamma-, and delta-tocotrienol (alphaT3, betaT3, gammaT3, and deltaT3) in addition to alpha-tocopheryl acetate (alphaTac). Foods from local markets were stored according to usual household habits, freeze-dried, homogenized, and extracted three times with hexane containing butylated hydroxytoluene as a preservative and tocol as an internal standard. A normal-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography system was applied with fluorescence and photodiode array detection that resulted in baseline separation of all eight analytes and the internal standard tocol (To). The sum of all E vitamer concentrations, or total E vitamers (TEV), in all foods analyzed ranged an average from 0.6 to 828 mg/kg (T < or = 542 mg/kg and T3 < or = 432 mg/kg) and showed the following ranges: oils, 497-828 mg/kg (mainly alphaT and gammaT); margarines, 359-457 mg/kg (mainly gammaT); salad dressings, 20-291 mg/kg (mainly gammaT, except alphaT when soy oil was the main ingredient); cookies, 54-138 mg/kg (mainly gammaT); snacks, 101-220 mg/kg (mainly gammaT); nuts, 22-201 mg/kg (mainly alphaT); vegetables, 2-152 mg/kg (mainly alphaT); pasta, 24-90 mg/kg; cereals, 4-56 mg/kg (mainly betaT3 followed by alphaT); fish, 2-39 mg/kg (mainly alphaT); fried tofu, 64 mg/kg (mainly gammaT); breads, 20-22 mg/kg (mainly betaT3); fat-free mayonnaise, 5 mg/kg (mainly alphaT); poi (fermented taro root), 2 mg/kg (mostly alphaT); and fruits, 2 (papaya) to 13 mg/kg (canned pumpkin) with alphaT predominating. Cereals fortified with alphaTac ranked third and eighth among all foods assayed regarding alphaT and TEV levels, respectively. As compared to the few data available in the literature, our

Interpretation of heavy rainfall spatial distribution in mountain watersheds by copula functions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossi, Giovanna; Balistrocchi, Matteo

2016-04-01

The spatial distribution of heavy rainfalls can strongly influence flood dynamics in mountain watersheds, depending on their geomorphologic features, namely orography, slope, land covers and soil types. Unfortunately, the direct observation of rainfall fields by meteorological radar is very difficult in this situation, so that interpolation of rain gauge observations or downscaling of meteorological predictions must be adopted to derive spatial rainfall distributions. To do so, various stochastic and physically based approaches are already available, even though the first one is the most familiar in hydrology. Indeed, Kriging interpolation procedures represent very popular techniques to face this problem by means of a stochastic approach. A certain number of restrictive assumptions and parameter uncertainties however affects Kriging. Many alternative formulations and additional procedures were therefore developed during the last decades. More recently, copula functions (Joe, 1997; Nelsen, 2006; Salvadori et al. 2007) were suggested to provide a more straightforward solution to carry out spatial interpolations of hydrologic variables (Bardossy & Pegram; 2009). Main advantages lie in the possibility of i) assessing the dependence structure relating to rainfall variables independently of marginal distributions, ii) expressing the association degree through rank correlation coefficients, iii) implementing marginal distributions and copula functions belonging to different models to develop complex joint distribution functions, iv) verifying the model reliability by effective statistical tests (Genest et al., 2009). A suitable case study to verify these potentialities is provided by the Taro River, a right-bank tributary of the Po River (northern Italy), whose contributing area amounts to about 2˙000 km2. The mountain catchment area is divided into two similar watersheds, so that spatial distribution is crucial in extreme flood event generation. A quite well diffused

Intake of milk with added micronutrients increases the effectiveness of an energy-restricted diet to reduce body weight: a randomized controlled clinical trial in Mexican women.

PubMed

Rosado, Jorge L; Garcia, Olga P; Ronquillo, Dolores; Hervert-Hernández, Deisy; Caamaño, Maria Del C; Martínez, Guadalupe; Gutiérrez, Jessica; García, Sandra

2011-10-01

Micronutrient deficiencies have been associated with an increase in fat deposition and body weight; thus, adding them to low-fat milk may facilitate weight loss when accompanied by an energy-restricted diet. The objective was to evaluate the effect of the intake of low-fat milk and low-fat milk with added micronutrients on anthropometrics, body composition, blood glucose levels, lipids profile, C-reactive protein, and blood pressure of women following an energy-restricted diet. A 16-week randomized, controlled intervention study. One hundred thirty-nine obese women (aged 34±6 years) from five rural communities in Querétaro, Mexico. Women followed an energy-restricted diet (-500 kcal) and received in addition one of the following treatments: 250 mL of low-fat milk (LFM) three times/day, 250 mL of low-fat milk with micronutrients (LFM+M) three times/day, or a no milk control group (CON). Weight, height, and hip and waist circumferences were measured at baseline and every 4 weeks. Body composition measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, blood pressure, and blood analysis were done at baseline and at the end of the 16 weeks. Changes in weight and body composition. One-factor analysis of variance, adjusted by age, baseline values, and community random effects. After the 16-week intervention, participants in the LFM+M group lost significantly more weight (-5.1 kg; 95% CI: -6.2 to -4.1) compared with LFM (-3.6 kg; 95% CI: -4.7 to -2.6) and CON (-3.2 kg; 95% CI: -4.3 to -2.2) group members (P=0.035). Body mass index change in the LFM+M group (-2.3; 95% CI: -2.7 to -1.8) was significantly greater than LFM group members (-1.5; 95% CI: -2.0 to -1.1) and CON group members (-1.4; 95% CI: -1.9 to -0.9) (P=0.022). Change in percent body fat among LFM+M group members (-2.7%; 95% CI: -3.2 to -2.1) was significantly higher than LFM group members (-1.8%; 95% CI: -2.3 to -1.3) and CON group members (-1.6%; 95% CI: -2.2 to -1.0) (P=0.019). Change in bone mineral content was

[Frontier of mycobacterium research--host vs. mycobacterium].

PubMed

Okada, Masaji; Shirakawa, Taro

2005-09-01

During the past decade, we have observed advance in tuberculosis research including novel vaccines, innate immunity (TLR), SNIP analysis and molecular mechanism of drug resistance. Worldwide genome project enabled the whole genome sequence of host resistant against tuberculosis as well as the whole genome sequence of M. tuberculosis H37Rv. DNA technology has also provided a great impact on the development of novel vaccine against TB. In this symposium, we have invited leading researchers in the field of the frontier study of Mycobacterium research in order to provide general overview of the cutting edge of frontier research. Molecular mechanism of drug resistance of M. tuberculosis has been clarified. On the other hand, molecular mechanism of host-defence (insusceptibility of host) against M. tuberculosis has not yet elucidated. Dr. Taro Shirakawa (Kyoto University) reviewed the susceptibility genes of host in TB infection and presented candidate genes associated with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. Dr. Naoto Keicho (International Medical Center of Japan) tried to identify host genetic factors involved in susceptibility to pulmonary Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) infection by candidate gene approach and genome-wide approach. In Japan, Dr. Masaji Okada (National Hospital Organization Kinki-Chuo Chest Medical Center) has been engaged actively in the development of new tuberculosis vaccines (HVJ-liposome/Hsp65 DNA + IL-12 DNA vaccine and recombinant 72f BCG vaccine). He showed basic strategy for construction of new candidate vaccines and also showed significant efficacy on the protection of tuberculosis infection using cynomolgus monkeys, which are very similar to human tuberculosis. Dr. Hatsumi Taniguchi (University of Occupational and Environmental Health) presented that M. tuberculosis mIHF and the neighbor genes went into a dormacy-like state of M. smegmatis in J774 macrophage cells. This study might provide a weapon for elucidating the mechanism of dormacy

Characterization of the organic matter in submicron urban aerosols using a Thermo-Desorption Proton-Transfer-Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TD-PTR-TOF-MS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salvador, Christian Mark; Ho, T.-T.; Chou, Charles C.-K.; Chen, M.-J.; Huang, W.-R.; Huang, S.-H.

2016-09-01

Organic matter is the most complicated and unresolved major component of atmospheric aerosol particles. Its sources and global budget are still highly uncertain and thereby necessitate further research efforts with state-of-the-art instrument. This study employed a Thermo-Desorption Proton-Transfer-Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TD-PTR-TOF-MS) for characterization of ambient organic aerosols. First, five authentic standard substances, which include phthalic acid, levoglucosan, arabitol, cis-pinonic acid and glutaric acid, were utilized to examine the response of the instrument. The results demonstrated the linearity of the TD-PTR-TOF-MS signals against a range of mass loading of specific species on filters. However, it was found that significant fragmentation happened to those challenging compounds, although the proton-transfer-reaction (PTR) was recognized as a soft ionization technique. Consequently, quantitative characterization of aerosols with the TD-PTR-TOF-MS depended on the availability of the fragmentation pattern in mass spectra and the recovery rate with the quantification ion peak(s). The instrument was further deployed to analyze a subset of submicron aerosol samples collected at the TARO (Taipei Aerosol and Radiation Observatory) in Taipei, Taiwan during August 2013. The results were compared with the measurements from a conventional DRI thermo-optical carbon analyzer. The inter-comparison indicated that the TD-PTR-TOF-MS underestimated the mass of total organic matter (TOM) in aerosol samples by 27%. The underestimation was most likely due to the thermo-decomposition during desorption processes and fragmentation in PTR drift tube, where undetectable fragments were formed. Besides, condensation loss of low vapor pressure species in the transfer components was also responsible for the underestimation to a certain degree. Nevertheless, it was showed that the sum of the mass concentrations of the major detected ion peaks correlated strongly

Assessment of coastal erosion and quantification of land loss on Western Pacific atolls during the last 50 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taborosi, Danko; Zega, Mojca; Jenson, John W.

2010-05-01

The majority of islands in the tropical western Pacific are coral atolls. Most are inhabited by indigenous Micronesian populations. Local people have over the millennia developed coping strategies and response mechanisms to difficult natural conditions, including typhoons, erosion, giant swells, and flooding, as well as ensuing famines and epidemics. However, since 1990s residents of atolls in the region have been appealing for help. They indicate that their islands are being rapidly eroded along coastlines, land areas are becoming smaller, and taro patches and other vegetation are being damaged. Such concerns were corroborated by one sweeping assessment by South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission in 1998, as well as various isolated field observations since. Evidence of recent coastal erosion is found locally on many islands, both on windward and leeward sides and ocean and lagoon facing shores. Examples include retreating modern beaches, exhumed beachrock, scouring and undercutting of vegetation, overhanging scarps, etc. In addition, a considerable number of uninhabited islets have been completely obliterated by storms in the recent past; unusually high tides and swells have swept over large populated islands, destroying homes and harming agriculture; and at least one atoll has been abandoned due to irrecoverable typhoon damage. Those problems have received much worldwide media coverage, in which they are generally presented as "sinking" of islands due to global climate change and accompanying sea level rise. In reality, modern atolls are now known to be artifacts of the Pacific mid-Holocene High-Stand, and no first-hand data are available from Pacific islands to discern what proportion of observed erosional phenomena are 1) due to local natural and anthropogenic coastal processes as opposed to global and regional changes, and 2) caused by continuous natural dynamics as opposed to episodic extreme events. It is clear that some islands are faring better than

[The trend in pregnancies terminated by a cesarean operation in Mexico during 1991-1995].

PubMed

Juárez Ocaña, S J; Fajardo Gutiérrez, A; Pérez Palacios, G; Guerrero Morales, R G; Gómez Delgado, A

1999-07-01

/SOLIDARIDAD and 21.7% for the Health Ministry, all trends were statistically significant. In relation to the institutes attending closed population the raise was of 53.27% [OR trend 1.82; 95% IC (1.81-1.83), "p" < 0.05], with the highest rate for the National Defense Ministry which had a rate of 51-15%, the rates for the remaining institutions varied from 33.52% for the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) to 43.89% for the Institute of Safety and Social Services for the State Workers (ISSSTE), with exception of the Management of the Medical Services of the Mexican Oils (PEMEX) and the Marine Ministry (SECMAR), all trends were statistically significant. When the analysis of the cesarean section rates for the 32 states of the Mexican Republic was carried out, we found that in 1995, the national average rate was 28.58%, the lowest rate corresponded to the state of Zacatecas with 19.82% and the highest to the state of Nuevo León with 42.14%. There was a tendency to increment for all states which varied from 23.55% for the state Chiapas and 67.97% for the states of Querétaro, all increments were statistically significant. We conclude, that rates of cesarean section for both, institutions of NHS and states of the Mexican Republic, are of the highest in the world, no matter what big the interinstitutional and interstate variation are. The highest rates occurred in institutions attending closed population, and the states with a higher degree of socioeconomic development.